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innovation-hacking2

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[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor.." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy.", ">\n\nThere’s literally 0 good reasons to restrict lunch for kids. None" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy.", ">\n\nThere’s literally 0 good reasons to restrict lunch for kids. None", ">\n\nThey are dismantling every program the people who elected them require to survive" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy.", ">\n\nThere’s literally 0 good reasons to restrict lunch for kids. None", ">\n\nThey are dismantling every program the people who elected them require to survive", ">\n\nAnother reason it's terrible to be a teacher." ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy.", ">\n\nThere’s literally 0 good reasons to restrict lunch for kids. None", ">\n\nThey are dismantling every program the people who elected them require to survive", ">\n\nAnother reason it's terrible to be a teacher.", ">\n\nSadly, in our school, the end of the subsidy means lower quality food as the school tries to keep it affordable" ]

[ "This still infuriates me - like, it was good in every possible way. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING TAXES SHOULD BE PAYING FOR!", ">\n\n\"But I had to pay for my school lunches, why should they get it for free?\" - Republicans probably", ">\n\nYou can remove the probably.", ">\n\nIt’s republicans and demublicans like Manchin, Sinema, and others.\nEdit: Everyone is eager to point out that Sinema isn’t a democrat anymore. Sinema was a “democrat” when the program ended in June of last year.", ">\n\nRemember, the states with the lowest standard of living are all \"Red\" States.", ">\n\nThe UN honest to god said the south didn’t look like a first world country. Why does anyone think republicans are good for any economy?!", ">\n\nBasically, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, their parents voted GOP, eventually you go back far enough and find a voter who voted GOP when the GOP weren’t racist POS but their children were just stupid and voted for the same person their parents did and it just passed down. Now they listen to spoon fed lies from Facebook and Fox News and think democrats are evil incarnate. Then they blame democrats for GOP cutting services like this.", ">\n\nThey were all Democrats back in the day. They all flipped to Republicans when Johnson defied the dixiecrats and pushed through the Civil Rights Act.\nThey used to vote in their own self-interest to help the working man, and their fellow citizen, but black folks getting rights was a step too far.", ">\n\nThe parties as a whole swapped policies around that time. Republicans used to be good (Ie Lincoln), now we get Bush jr, Trump, and the idiots in congress now.", ">\n\nThe switch began long ago, that is why Teddy Roosevelt left the Republican party and joined the Progressive Party aka The Bull Moose Party. Teddy known as a trust buster , thought the Republicans were getting too cozy with big business. By 1947 Harry Truman was trying to integrate the military. Oh, lets not forget about FDR and his new deal.", ">\n\nSchool food programs are the NUMBER 1 source of food for children in poverty. This was one of the major pain points that didn't get enough attention when schools closed due to covid. We've slowly developed public schools as the biggest source of critical support for children in poverty. It is a system that needs massive improvements and intentional design. Not dismantling", ">\n\nThe odds of those kids growing up to vote Republican are pretty slim and their parents definitely aren't, so that's prime \"own the libs\" territory for the GOP with no real drawbacks. It's not like those families are writing their donation checks every year so they are entirely wasted money and effort.", ">\n\nThere are plenty of poor people in Republican strongholds. In Democratic areas, there is more likely to be local support. NYC has free breakfast and lunch for all (as well as pick up meals during summer and pick up meals throughout the first year+ of covid). The food sucks for the most part, but it's there.", ">\n\n“The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”", ">\n\nFree public school lunches kept my siblings and I fed through public school! This is such a shame. If I didn’t have that one solid meal a day I may have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.", ">\n\n\nmay have taken to after school grocery theft (the gateway crime) like some of my similarly-starved peers.\n\nRepublicans would have preferred that so you could have a future life of crime and end up in a private prison.", ">\n\nOr as they may be alternatively known, the slave farms.", ">\n\nAnywhere you have:\n\nLimited education funding\nLimited access to nutrition\nLimited access to public services\nAn Amscot or other payday lender\nMilitary recruitment office\nHigh crime rate\n\nThat's a slave farm.", ">\n\nAbsolutely.\nBut prisons, especially for profit ones, are literal slave farms. As in, it was never made illegal in the Constitution", ">\n\nMy implication is that most of those bullet points funnel you into either debt, military or prison. All of which are different types of slavery, but you are right--being a prisoner means you are literally a slave.", ">\n\nThis thread needs to be blasted🔊🔊", ">\n\nRepublicans are becoming more open about the class war they've been waging for at least the last forty years.", ">\n\nWhen I talk to my friends about class war, they don't believe there's any class war. The capitalists have got us so brainwashed that the victims of the war don't even realize they're in one, let alone that they have to fight back.", ">\n\nThey have been brainwashed into thinking we are in a culture war while the leaders of the class war laugh all the way to the bank.", ">\n\nBrainwashed ha! They've willingly accepted the farce because it gives them something to focus on instead of improving their own lives. It's super comforting to believe it's just a bunch of silly teenager angst. Easier than the dark reality of the struggle for equality thats been lost pretty soundly by now.", ">\n\nOk, I see where you are coming from. If people didn’t have that weakness, they probably wouldn’t fall into such lines of thinking nearly as easily—but, the fact remains, they do have that weakness. It’s also not at all clear that an inherent weakness is the deciding factor—it could just as easily be a consequence of one’s social orbit, or exposure to propaganda. It’s very possible that most people have that weakness, and that many of those who do not fall victim to it were insulated by environmental rather than inherent factors.\nTo address this, we must consider Boenhoffer’s “theory of stupidity”. To be clear, “stupidity” in context does not mean an inherent intellectual inability, but, instead, a psychological tendency toward compulsive or willful ignorance. This tendency may be induced, especially via brainwashing—indeed, Boenhoffer arrived at his understanding by observing changes in German society throughout the rise and fall of the Nazi party. \nPeople who have such a weakness are still capable of being good people in an environment that effectively encourages it, just like people who are particularly prone to certain disorders may still avoid them in the right environment. \nWe could simply blame people for being overweight—it’s true that most could probably lose weight under the right circumstances and with a lot of effort—but we could also ensure that healthy foods are available at prices competitive with those of unhealthy foods. We could simply blame people for falling into addiction as a result of abrupt withdrawal of opioid medication for chronic pain or we could provide a structured dose-taper and alternative means of managing pain. We could simply blame people for being poor, or we could provide free decent-quality education, livable interim housing etc. so that they have a chance to escape poverty.\nSimilarly, we could blame people for falling into the trap that is the culture war—and hope that they either die or miraculously stop having that weakness—or we could do something about the environment that allowed that weakness to manifest itself.\nWe could mock and reprimand, or we could do something productive about it.\nSometimes there are problems in society which cannot be efficiently addressed by hoping that people have moments of metanoia. Sometimes people just won’t hear you until you remove the wax from their ears. These problems, then, must be solved by direct action. We must ensure that our society does not encourage such blindness.", ">\n\n\"Children might starve, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to insignificantly lower taxes.\"", ">\n\n~~Congress~~ Republicans got rid of a free lunch for all program. That means some students are going hungry.\nFixed that for you.", ">\n\nAnytime Republicans in Congress force something like this to happen, the media says \"Congress did XYZ.\"\nAnytime Democrats in Congress force something to happen, the media says \"Democrats did XYZ.\"", ">\n\nMy parents just paid off an entire school’s lunch debt. Nobody will ever know (it was anonymous donation) and even if they did media wouldn’t ever care but I’m proud of them and wanted to share.", ">\n\nConservatives, such a hilarious lot, they are all for owning the libs even if their kids have to go hungry for it.", ">\n\nThe richest country in the world, letting schoolchildren go hungry. Detestable.", ">\n\nThink of all money they’ll save by not making all those pb&j sandwiches. That’ll get our deficit back on track.", ">\n\nRepublicans. Republicans killed school lunch funding.", ">\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\nRepublican's (2030): Maybe the students should have guns", ">\n\n\nRepublican's: Maybe the teachers should have guns too\n\nThat teacher in Virginia who was shot by a 6 year old, according to the Republicans she should have been armed, then she and the 6 year old would have gotten into a gunfight in the middle of a classroom filled with first graders.", ">\n\nIt's so ridiculous, how easy do they think it would be for an educator to shoot a child, especially a fucking 6 year old? Most people would have a hard time bringing themselves to shoot a child, even if they present as a threat.", ">\n\nPlus they present a much smaller target.", ">\n\nThere’s no reason why schools shouldn’t provide meals to the students. This is just obscene.", ">\n\nWhere are the “All Lives Matter” crowd?? If they care for kids’ lives, they would be furious!", ">\n\nThis isn’t an election year. So no lives matter", ">\n\nWrong! Rich lives matter. Corporate interests matter! But fuck everything and everyone else.", ">\n\ncan't wait to see this sign in the next protest", ">\n\nJesus would be so proud of his chosen people.", ">\n\nHow are the Israelis responsible for this?", ">\n\nThe Israelites are Christian?", ">\n\nI thought they were Jewish globalists", ">\n\n'Globalists' is already the dog whistle for Jewish. That's like saying 'Jewish coastal elite' or 'Gay urban childless'.", ">\n\n“Urban” is PoC for them tho", ">\n\nSolution: Have the military come into the schools to feed the kids. (No guns, just military cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.)\n^(I know this wouldn't work.)", ">\n\n\nmilitary cooks, privates as servers, and food bought by the military.\n\nThey contracted that shit out a long time ago.", ">\n\nTo pull yourself up by your own bootstraps one must have a pair of boots. \nHow about we at least let children get through grade school before we start in with the ideological rhetoric of independent determinism.", ">\n\nStep one: criminalize abortion \nstep two: don’t feed hungry kids\nFucking ghouls", ">\n\nStop. Voting. Republican.", ">\n\nBuT tHeY cUt My TaXeS", ">\n\nmUh gAS pRiCEs", ">\n\nMay I suggest a hunger strike or a walk out to prove a point from kids and young adults in school. When I was in school (I am 26) I had friends that the schools free lunches was the only meal they got that day. No one should have to watch a friend starve.", ">\n\nUnborn babies have better rights than a public school student.", ">\n\nLess food means lower grades. Lower grades means Republican recruitment.", ">\n\nIt's almost like they don't actually care about children.", ">\n\nThey don't. It's obvious that they don't.", ">\n\nGot to love when it's the Republicans fault the news says Congress and when its the Democrats fault the news says Democrats.", ">\n\nIf it’s a law to go to school, it should be the state’s responsibility to feed and transport ALL children.", ">\n\nDemocrats would rather let no one go hungry even if that means some will benefit that don’t need it\nRepublicans would rather let everyone go hungry if that means someone dares to game the system\nVote accordingly", ">\n\nUnrequested increase to defense budget—no food for children. Merkuh!!", ">\n\nGotta feel the love the GOP has toward poor kids.", ">\n\nThis is a national security concern.\nHungry kids means weak soldiers", ">\n\nWhy should anyone fight for a government that would let them go hungry in a land of plenty?", ">\n\n💯 What are we even bothering to defend here now??", ">\n\nPro-lifers have no end to their hypocrisy. They’re evil bags of donkey shit", ">\n\nRepublicans.\nRe-Pub-Li-Cans.\nRepublicans.\nNot \"Congress\".\nRepublicans.", ">\n\nHow did providing people with basic needs like food and shelter become such a debate point?\nReagan and his welfare queen was a good start. Fuck his dried and desiccated swiss cheese Alzheimer brain. He isn't a role model, he was just a ventriloquist dummy for republican greed, self entitlement, irrational self importance and superiority, biases and judgment.", ">\n\n\"Congress\"\nYou mean, \"Republicans\"? (Plus, maybe, the handful of usual turncoat \"moderates\"?)", ">\n\nThe richest country, at the most wealthy time in history, has decided not to feed children in need to save a few bucks.", ">\n\nWe voted to tax the rich for free lunches in CO. So proud of my state.", ">\n\nREPUBLICANS got rid of a free lunch for all program.\nFixed that title for you, fucknuts.", ">\n\nI survived off of free lunch at my school, son of a single mother working all day and night and still couldn’t afford to always pack lunch! That school food for free saved me!", ">\n\n*Republicans", ">\n\nFeeding hungry children is like, the base case for what taxes should be spent on", ">\n\nDuh. Just become a senator and you get your expenses covered. So easy. People are just too lazy. /s", ">\n\nNobody takes more handouts than politicians and wallstreet", ">\n\nCruelty is the point, the continuing attacks on public schools and government programs that help the poor continue.", ">\n\nsomeone got a payout for this and it guaranteed to have a R next to its name", ">\n\nThey keep cutting taxes for the rich, then they have the greed to suggest people shouldn't eat.\nYou know, this sort of thing didn't go well in France.", ">\n\nNot Congress. Republicans.", ">\n\nAlways remember for conservatives the cruelty is the point. The harm, pain, and suffering that they cause are nourishment to their hateful lives.\nEvery accusation of a conservative is a confession of their own wrong doing.\nNever forgive them for the destruction they have wrought on the world, and continue to impose.", ">\n\nThe rich can never be satisfied.", ">\n\nThoughts for breakfast and prayers for lunch.", ">\n\n\"Only billionaires get a free ride, working class families can go fuck themselves.\"\n-Republicans", ">\n\nNo need to ask what party made it go away. They inly Care for kids in the embryonic age group", ">\n\nIt was the Democratic Party that ran congress in June. They did this.", ">\n\nA few hold outs but 42 republicans sank it", ">\n\nIsn’t it a sign of what kind of society one has, on how they treat their poor and indigent ? Heading to where?", ">\n\nHow many of the elected officials that make changes like this actually have kids in public school? \nOh right, none.", ">\n\nWow….if it weren’t for my school having free breakfast and lunch idk how I could have passed. \nI honestly don’t care if my taxes pay for that. I’ve been there and if it helps someone else in my shoes so be it", ">\n\nYou want to pay for the Trump kids to have free school meals? The federal program you used still exists. This change only takes away free meals for wealthy kids. Over 50% still qualify for free meals.", ">\n\nFuck you, GOP.. Seriously, fuck you and your lousy, tiny majority. Stupid motherfuckers. One of the things that LITERALLY everybody sees as a really good thing taxes go for, you of course make a principle to fuck up.\nFuck you, from here to eternity. Always and forever, FUCK YOU.", ">\n\nWhy do news outlets say \"Congress\" when they mean \"conservatives\"?\nThey should cut that shit out.", ">\n\nColorado voted it back in via state law last November to be paid for by lowering deductions for high earners on state tax returns. Other states could get in on that", ">\n\nI say we take philanthropy to an extreme and set up some kind of lottery program. Every time we face a shortfall of funding for a program that preserves a basic human right, we select a name at random from a list of all the country's wealthiest people, and we sacrifice them and their fortune to the god of capitalism. I mean, what's more important, children not starving or billionaires getting to remain billionaires?", ">\n\nYou've got my vote", ">\n\nAnything over $10,000,000 in wealth and the number of entries into the lottery are proportional to your wealth. So people who own social media sites would be over 10,000 times as likely to have their name drawn as the person with just $10,000,000 in wealth.", ">\n\nFamily of 4 can make no more than 36000.00 that’s only after taxes roughly 138.00 a week per person in the household . Average rent is 12-1800.00 for a 3 bed room in my area . On the low end leaving gross disposable income at 22,000.00 annually alone which is around 105.00 a week per person . I’m not a math wiz but can someone tell me how to live off of around 105.00 a week per person and have a sufficient life ?", ">\n\nFor one, a family of 4 making $36k has a negative tax rate.", ">\n\nSo they pay roughly the same in taxes as many of the multi billion dollar businesses that get yearly handouts...huh... weird...", ">\n\n*Republicans\nThey spelled “Republicans” wrong in the title. I’m not sure how they got it so wrong tbh. There isn’t even a C or a G in Republicans.", ">\n\nJust take a look at our military budget, this country is so upside down.", ">\n\nHow long has it been, a week??? F'N REPUGNICANS! 😡", ">\n\nAsshole republicans", ">\n\nStudents should not go hungry.", ">\n\n\nCongress ended the free lunch for all program in June, reverting to a system where low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nThe same can be said of the medicaid program. I see too many patients who didn't know when to re-up their qualifications for health care or missed the deadline (having recently moved to Florida from another state). \nIt's all about jumping through hoops, and it sucks. Kids should not suffer because our social programs are failing to find them and protect them.", ">\n\nThe programs are designed to be hard to get into and easy to fall out of. They’re not intended to help the poor, they’re intended to look like they’re helping the poor while being impossible for poor people to use. Failing to find a person qualified for the program is a feature— that saves the program money. And it’s true of all the programs. They’re also meant to be humiliating to use. They want the EBT cards to be obvious because they want the public to say something if you dare to use EBT in public. They want those interactions where the poor person is humiliated for daring to buy anything other than absolute garbage, or shudders a poor kid who’s parents are on EBT gets a birthday cake even a day old marked down one.", ">\n\nMust agree. Been there, done it myself. As a white woman, I was asked in front of a crowd of people: \"Are you pregnant?\" Back then, they fingerprinted you with blue ink, as though you were a criminal, too. Then they sweetly turned me away - \"Sorry, you don't qualify,\" and I heard comments whispered behind me: \"What's that white girl doing here, anyway?!\" Nevermind that I was starving. I literally went home penniless, defeated, and hungry. I was not told that I should apply for help paying my bills elsewhere. I struggled for years before I learned the system by asking anyone on the bus who would listen.", ">\n\nRepublicans: So pro-life, they let your kid die when they refuse to feed them at school!", ">\n\nRepublicans", ">\n\nSo much for being pro life bad pro family", ">\n\nRepublicans: vote for us for freedom. The freedom for the state to not have to deliver anything in return for your taxes except funding our own expenses.", ">\n\nBro society would be nothing without communal eating.\nSharing food with another human being is the most basic but most powerful way to build trust between people.", ">\n\nHell between literally every single living organism on the planet and probably even the single cell organisms on the other planets", ">\n\nThis is what happens when you vote red republican. This is what happens when you vote based on religion. This is what happens when you vote blind nationalist.", ">\n\nPeak United States. What a win for our country.", ">\n\nThe conniving bastards, who do they think pays for their meals. Unbelievable that a group of Republicans can try to destroy the learning abilities of the poor by taking away a meal. Sickening!", ">\n\n“Why should money go overseas instead of helping our poor here”\neliminates free lunch programs here", ">\n\nPosting the story, because this shitty \"journalist\" never mentions it was Republicans that killed it, and they don't deserve the clicks:\n\nAs schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. \nCongress ended the free-lunch-for-all program in June, reverting to a system in which low-income families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for aid based on their income. But some families have been left behind because they do not understand the application process, and others are rejected because they do not qualify. A family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \nSchools often feed these students, requiring them to pay later and creating a debt many families cannot pay down. For some children, the debt can get so big that schools stop giving them a full meal. \nCommunity organizations, social media influencers and national nonprofits are trying to help fill the void with donations to cover the more than $19 million in debt students have accrued just halfway into the school year. \nIt doesn’t seem to be enough: Plenty of kids face going without school lunches or getting smaller, alternative school meals when they return to school this winter because of their negative balances. This is happening at a time of historic inflation, when school meal prices are rising and many families are struggling to pay rent and feed their children. \nResults from a national survey by the School Nutrition Association, published Wednesday, shows 847 schools had amassed $19.2 million in lunch debt.\nDebt varies across the country. Across North Carolina, lunch debt exceeded $1 million as of Nov. 1. One Wisconsin school district surpassed $14,000 in school lunch debt by October. And in Georgia, a nonprofit called All For Lunch paid $130,000 to wipe the debt of several schools across several metro area counties in December. \nWhy does it matter?\nUniversal school meals can promote academic achievement, keep kids healthier and reduce \"lunch shaming\" of students who have unpaid meal debt and can't afford their lunch, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokeswoman for the national School Nutrition Association. \nAccording to the national campaign No Kid Hungry, run by the nonprofit Share Our Strength, \"students who eat school breakfast have been shown to achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized math tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year\" on average. \nWho is trying to help?\nSeveral community groups and even social media influencers are donating to help schools cover students' debt and supporting initiatives that could lead to policy change.\nThe nonprofit Tusk Philanthropies' Solving Hunger is funding four organizations focused on promoting policy change related to universal free healthy school meals. The organization is funding campaigns in Connecticut, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.\nIn another, Sarah Stusek recorded herself calling Mount Vernon Community School in a viral TikTok video to pay off the Virginia school’s nearly $1,700 lunch debt. \n“It’s wonderful (Sarah) is doing that, and that so many community organizations have stepped up to help address this,\" the School Nutrition Association's Pratt-Heavner said. \"But it’s unfortunately a short-term solution and one of the reasons Congress should provide school lunches.”\nIn recent years, new state legislation has emerged to ban lunch-shaming – preventing schools from feeding kids who can't pay or have with debt smaller alternative meals, thereby broadcasting that they haven't paid up.\nWhich states offer free meals to kids?\nSome states opted to continue free-lunch-for-all programs, including Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont and Pennsylvania.\nCalifornia, Maine and now Colorado are the only states with laws ensuring permanent universal meal programs for all children, regardless of parents' income. \nA few districts, including in Chicago and New York City, also offer free meals to kids. \nKids are accruing debt in part because schools are having a hard time getting kids to sign up for the federal free and reduced-price school lunch program. Some children don't qualify but still can't afford meals.\nA survey by the National Center for Education Statistics shows student participation in school meal programs is down from last school year by 23% nationally. The largest drop is in the Midwest at 31%.\nThe October survey shows that of the 88% of schools that operate USDA school lunch and breakfast meal programs, 1 in 4 reported \"it was much more or a little more difficult for their school to operate meal programs\" this school year compared with last.\nSchools told the School Nutrition Association increasing costs, staff shortages, menu item shortages, menu items being discontinued and unpaid meal debt are some of their top challenges.", ">\n\nAll democrat run states should continue the free lunch program. There is no excuse.", ">\n\nMeanwhile the Pentagon got $55 Billion more than they asked for. Free lunch program costs approximately $19 Billion. Go home America you're drunk.", ">\n\nThe school district I grew up in switched to free lunch for all prior to this federal change that was implemented during COVID. It was actually cheaper to operate free of charge to all students than the old system of full lunch/reduced price/free lunch.\nIts just a shame that the baby got thrown out with the bathwater when they ended the entire package of COVID economic relief measures.", ">\n\nAmerica. A country has been around for like 200 years in its current state. Had the opportunity to take and learn from all the best bits of what other countries do right. \n2023: Banning books, women’s rights? gun culture like it’s the Wild West, stopping people voting, expensive medicine and now purposely stopping children from eating lunch - such a disappointing country honestly. Should be the best country in the world but it’s going backwards like some religious middle eastern country who wants to oppress people .\nHaving said that, this is the internet and my post is a reaction to this news. Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m openminded enough for someone to tell me the subtlety of this lunch thing that I’m missing", ">\n\nI don't know what to tell people who can't accept that nutrition is linked with academic success and then have to watch them say \"Why do our students do poorly?!\" A lot of them can't fucking eat.", ">\n\nB-But big corporations needed another tax cut! 🥺👉👈", ">\n\nNot some students,the greater majority are kids of color who don’t have the means to buy or bring lunch . I’ve worked breakfast and lunch programs in the Bronx and saw firsthand the need for free lunch programs for all.", ">\n\nNevermind the thought that it might be some poor kids only meal for the day.", ">\n\nHow we can consider our nation a super power and not feed our children while they’re getting an education is beyond me. Teachers are disrespected and underpaid, and kids can’t eat for free. Then have to take out loans to go to college. What’s the point any more…", ">\n\nYeah force them to be born then starve them because they are poor", ">\n\nI grew up low income. That free lunch actually made a difference. There were times when sometimes there was no dinner and a free meal at school was important.", ">\n\nI didn't sign up to let ppl who make hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing shit to steal food from hungry children, fuck this fucking country", ">\n\nOf course they did. Anything to make already struggling families struggle even more. The cruelty is the point.", ">\n\nThese kids will grow up to be voters.", ">\n\nThey can pull themselves up by their bootstraps... /s", ">\n\nThe pride & joy of the USA...", ">\n\nI remember Republicans during COVID shut down saying that kids need to get back into school because for some that might be the only food they get to eat that day is free breakfast and lunch from the school.", ">\n\nLeaders of the free world but we can’t even feed and shelter our future.\nMeanwhile, let’s line up another round of corporate welfare!", ">\n\nBut remember they gave the military more money again than what the pentagon asked for. Which would have covered food for kids in schools and have money left over.", ">\n\nNow more kids will just steal from the lunch line. Used to do this all the time because you got me fucked up if you think giving me a pint of milk with a stale hamburger bun with a single slice of garbage cheddar cheese and calling that a meal will satisfy my hunger.", ">\n\nRepublicans don’t give a shit about children after they are born and even then they still don’t like them in the womb they just like having control of a woman’s body.", ">\n\nBut, hey, corporate profits are up.", ">\n\n“They must be born!”\nalso\n“No more handouts to all these kids”", ">\n\nThere is absolutely no reason we should have children going hungry in this country. None. It is fucking unacceptable. I am not ok with punishing CHILDREN because they are born to poor families. Being a poor child is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance outside of their control. Congratulations republicans, we are just going to fall further and further behind the rest of the developed world. And I know that some students are still going to qualify for free or reduced lunches and that is fantastic. But what about those on the cusp? What about those that have a major life change halfway through the year?", ">\n\nThose who qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program could also get discounts on the costs of AP tests. Many kids in my high school depended on this program, as it was the only time during the week that they had access to full meals, let alone any food at all.", ">\n\nGotta punish the poor for being poor. If these children weren’t supposed to be poor, they why would God make them poor? What, is the government going to interfere with The Lord God Himself and feed hungry children? Not today, Satan!", ">\n\nMy parents made the dumb choice to have 7 children and if it wasn't for reduced price school lunch, we might have starved. \nChildren can't help if their parents are poor and punishing them for that is beyond immoral.", ">\n\nThat’s some epic “Christian love” from GOP reps…", ">\n\nAh yes I'm sure those children are going to appreciate this \"personal accountability\" lesson from the GOP.", ">\n\nIn 1990s I was given a breakdown of the perks received by Congress. One was $250 monthly florist budget. They could use the funds for their office, spouse, employees, or constituents. I'd like to know if they still have that one.", ">\n\nWhere’s the “think of the children” crowd now? Oh yeah, protesting drag storytime events at public libraries. Because that’s waaaaay more important than hungry children…\nAt least these kids are learning early in life that politicians (specifically Republicans in this case) don’t give a shit about them.", ">\n\nDon’t forget to VOTE REPUBLICAN next election. Continuity in self inflicted misery is a guarantee.", ">\n\nThere's an underlying problem here. American cultural programming has been constantly pushed towards selfishness.\nUntil we address the root cause, us vs them, I got mine, individual over community mentality, we will continue to watch the most vulnerable among our citizenry suffer.", ">\n\nAs a poor kid who grew up without breakfasts and often lunch, let me tell you it really does affect how a kid performs in class. I spent more time chewing PAPER to keep my stomach from growling then I did what was being taught.\nKids need full bellies to keep focused. Period.\nI know the GQP likes dumb people but luckily this poor kid grew up to not be stupid; I will leave this country before ever voting R.", ">\n\nSo any hardcore republican want to explain how it helps the public to have children starve?", ">\n\nImagine being part of an organization that knowingly takes food out of the mouths of children.", ">\n\n\"Pro life party\"", ">\n\nImagine having school be required, a compulsory activity as an American and you don't even get fed.", ">\n\nSorry kids, you can eat the books we will be banning next 👍", ">\n\nOh we’re aware here. Still have free breakfast but I’m currently paying for three lunches everyday and I only have one kid, wtf am I supposed to do let two of my sons friends go hungry all day? Fuck republiQans", ">\n\nWhat about there Free food? And all the pay for there part time job that they can't even show up for all the time", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\nHighly pro-life move. Well done.", ">\n\nAh look at that the republicans are so prolife they didn't wanna give out free lunches! So prolife of them!", ">\n\nSo basically F all the people in need... Great", ">\n\nBecause helping average American citizens is considered socialism, but helping hedge fund execs make sure they get their yearly bonus is awesomely okay.", ">\n\nDo not give handouts to people. Make them earn their keep! — Republicans \nWe need to bailout corporations and CEOs! — also Republicans", ">\n\nThis is horrific. Imagine being that kid with a tough home-life where parents are neglectful. (CPS will intervene if kids are getting beaten, they don't do so much about parents that don't/can't fill out forms.) The five meals a week they could rely on just gone.", ">\n\nNot feeding kids properly will make them do very poorly in school.", ">\n\nThankfully our state provides this, free breakfast and hot lunch for anyone, and we need it. Kid had corn dog today, tomorrow is taco day. The menu items are quality, with multiple choices per day and a daily vegan option. Hail seitan!", ">\n\nAmerica- if we can figure out a way to make your life more miserable, we’ll do it!", ">\n\nPrisoners get three square meals per day. Kids are in school for about 8 hours and they can't even get one? The richest country in the history of the world, folks. We should be so fucking proud.", ">\n\nI really can’t think of another way taxes could be used more ethically then to feed American children in American schools.", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn $36,000 a year or less to qualify.\n\nWhat the fuck? $36,000 for a family of four is abject poverty.", ">\n\nHard to learn when you’re hungry", ">\n\nHow fucking heartless do you have to be?", ">\n\nthat'll teach those greedy starving children", ">\n\nHow much you want to get the politicians that voted to end these programs eat lunch for free every day. Probably dinner several nights a week too", ">\n\nYou have to be a truly evil piece of shit to be against free lunches for hungry school kids.", ">\n\nSome things I love where my taxes go like feeding kids. Not so much towards bombs and funding corrupt politicians. Damn Congress sucks mostly bc they are out of touch with the people they claim to represent. No system can account for selfishness and greed.", ">\n\nwow\nprobirth party then its fuck you i got mine", ">\n\nWhy say Congress when you really mean Republicans.", ">\n\nYou shouldn't be asking why schools can't give out free food.\nYou should be asking why people can't afford to feed their kids.", ">\n\nWhat do people who disagree with free lunch for kids think their tax dollars should do? How are their tax dollars supposed to be spent? Military? They get plenty. Political figures? They are well fed too. A fucking piece of shit wall that doesn't work? Is that more important than feeding kids in your community? Is hurting underprivileged kids worth hurting opposing voters? Where the hell are their priorities?", ">\n\nThey’ll say “we should spend our tax dollars fixing problems here at home”\nThen once we start having that talk they’ll revert back to some form of “taxes are theft”. It’s a pretty easy game to see once you’re in tune", ">\n\nWe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate. Because children going hungry seems to fit the bill of a huge problem here at home but for some reason they’re still ok with that.", ">\n\n\nwe need to hear more about what kind of “problems at home” they’ll allow us to acknowledge as legitimate”\n\nCulture war issues are the answers you’re looking for. They already tell us what they’re concerned with. But all of it (as conservative concerns tend to) focuses on “walking the right path”. \nLGBTQ issues they have? You’re not walking the proper path of “natural human life (add: “as god intended” depending on your flavor of conservative)”\nIssues with “CRT” and the general acknowledgement of americas racist history, racist institutions and white supremacy as the root of those issues? You’re not walking the proper path of thinking America is and always has been the greatest country in the world and that there is no responsibility held by the Caucasian body politic for the state of the country and it’s unfair, racist systems. \nThat last point is given away in how they speak about it in their law. Some form of “No child should be made to feel guilty just for being white”. Which, nobody is doing to school kids. \nBut the simple acknowledgement that “white people did the slavery” and “white people designed the institutions in the country to specifically exclude minorities at their outset” is what cons don’t want stated. That goes agains the “proper path”. \nI could go on, but this is pretty much the logistics of it. So pay attention to the culture war issues and you’ll understand exactly what they view as legitimate, no matter if they contradict any other stated beliefs. They don’t have any.", ">\n\nYet their parents still vote Republican. These voters need to be called out that other people care more about their children than these parents. Failures as both parents and human beings.", ">\n\nI work hard so my kids can have a better life than me. Tf happened to that mentality. Now it’s I went hungry so they go hungry.", ">\n\nNo one who made this decision ever went hungry. This is much worse. \"If I have to pay for my kid's food, you shouldn't get it for free.\"", ">\n\nThis article is incorrect. The meal program didn't end in June.\nthis is a better article. (Gift link)", ">\n\nthis is a very minor quibble when the main issue is that it stopped before the current school year started.", ">\n\nWell that, and it really didn't stop, it just reverted back to application based service", ">\n\nI mean... it DID stop. There's HUGE amounts of stigma and loopholes that just providing lunch for every kid solved. \nEnding it was a MASSIVE blow, and arguing that \"its still there, you can apply for it\" doesn't even begin to address the problems that exist.", ">\n\nNeoliberals absolutely love means testing except for programs like Roth accounts or 529s", ">\n\nPlenty of money to feed the MIC", ">\n\nIsn’t that the point? I mean…the poors gotta learn their place as early as possible. What better battleground to start that than school lunches? 🙄🤬🖕🏻", ">\n\nGotta get that IQ down some how, how else will Repubs keep their base?", ">\n\nHave the poor kids tried not being poor? DUH!!\n​\n/s", ">\n\n“Free” is a naughty word in US politics.", ">\n\nReally wish this would have stayed. It helps a lot of people and kids don’t deserve to be used as political pawns. Whatever happened to just helping people out because it was the right thing to do. It’s so annoying that everything has to have a motive or be tied to something else. Tax funds should go to free lunches at public schools.", ">\n\nThis will hurt some of the GOP voters own kids, I hope they proud they voted for these guys.", ">\n\nAt least all those Californian kids in the thumbnail have food. \nThere’s a reason you see more California flag apparel than American flag apparel here…", ">\n\nI can’t imagine knowing that there is a kid that got to eat with everybody else the day before that doesn’t get to eat today, and knowing it was my decision. What kind of worthless dingus can sleep at night after passing this", ">\n\nIt's fine as long as it's not an embryo.", ">\n\nRepublicans hate children once they’re born.", ">\n\nEspecially if they’re a certain color.", ">\n\nWe can fund the largest military industrial complex in the world with our tax dollars, but cannot afford to feed children lunch at school. This is bullshit greed.", ">\n\nFuck this country doing this to kids… take money from the ever-growing budget of the military to fix things for the nation’s citizens.", ">\n\nDriving the nail through the concept we’re a Christian nation", ">\n\nNo hate like Christian love", ">\n\nI'm very thankful my district doesn't penalize poor children with starvation. Although those of us who are teachers will usually pick up the tab so a child won't go hungry. Same as we buy snacks and drinks for our classrooms because parents often can't or won't send them in.\nThis country is ass backwards in so many ways.", ">\n\nThis breaks my heart.", ">\n\nBest way to teach kids is to distract them with hunger, right?", ">\n\nBad title.", ">\n\nBut.... But... I thought the GOP was the party of \"life\"?", ">\n\nThe greatest country in the history of the planet 🙄 refuses to ensure its youngest citizens come to a healthy adulthood. Real great country there.", ">\n\nThe school I teach at provides free breakfast, free lunch, a snack 6th hour, and free dinner before the students leave and it’s for 100% all students.", ">\n\nThis cost so little money and did so much good\nThe cruelty IS the point. Republicans are doing generational damage to their brand with their dumb choices.", ">\n\nIt must be the fault of the pagan libertads because Jesus said to care for the poor so the conservatives must have fought hard to keep the program.", ">\n\nthat would have been me in highschool without free school lunches. I WANT my taxes going to feed kids.", ">\n\nThis is a crime. We are in a full dystopian existence", ">\n\nThe Party Christ;\n“It is easier for the children of a rich man to enter the kingdom of lunch. Blessed be thy bootstraps.”\n\nRepublicans 24:7", ">\n\nThey literally don’t care", ">\n\n\"There's no such thing as free lunch\" - Republicans, 2023", ">\n\nAs long as republicans can stay fat is really all that matters. America first and all that.", ">\n\nHow do they literally do everything wrong", ">\n\nReminder that the only way to get pulled up by your bootstraps is with assistance. You can't simply pull yourself up by your bootstraps.", ">\n\nThis is really upsetting. I can remember back in high school when I had a job, I used my money to pay for my other siblings lunches because we were poor..", ">\n\nIf someone is forced to be somewhere for 7-9 hours a day, meals should be provided. \nAnd yes, I include students, the workforce (public & private) and anyone with this requirement.", ">\n\nThis is just evil.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking! As a teacher who retired this year one memory I have of a former student who was being picked up early by the parent was asking to go to the lunchroom before leaving to pick up their lunch to eat at home. They needed it.", ">\n\nColorado in the last election passed a law that anybody making over about $300k will be taxed extra for paying for school lunches.", ">\n\nAnd what do hungry children do? Lie cheat and steal to survive. Wowwww. The amount of shooting yourself in the foot that comes from the right is absurd. Logic is not present.", ">\n\ngo to school get education and lunch? Bad \ngo to military, get education, lunch, and salary? Good", ">\n\nI survived on free school lunches, typically that's what I had for the whole day! ~~what is wrong with these people~~ oh that's right, old and hateful and out of touch and it hurts their poor wittle wallets.", ">\n\nIs getting older becoming more and more disappointed with your country?", ">\n\nYes, but everybody in congress has access to food, so why in the fuck would they care?", ">\n\nOK first they got to stop this misinformation Remember the house is only 1/2 of 1/3 of the government you have the executive branch the legislative branch and the judicial branch? the Senate hasn’t pass anything and the executive isn’t going to sign it then it ain’t happening yet, Captain", ">\n\nLast years school district taxes: $4800. No free lunch program. Asked at the school board meeting why. \n“It’s up to parents to take care of their children”\nOk then, we don’t have kids but would like to sponsor a lunch program and raise funds with other area businesses. \n“No you can’t do that” \nArea businesses proceed to offer free meals to kids all year anytime. School district : we need to raise takes for the free lunch program to be reinstated.", ">\n\nI specifically remember a Republican congressman saying the reason they didn't believe in this program was because it \"spoils\" kids. Yeah...free food for impoverished kids really ruins things, helping them stay alive and all.", ">\n\n*Republican Congress", ">\n\nWhy do Republicans want hungry children?", ">\n\nHope they eat the voters who eliminated it", ">\n\nBring back the Black Panthers Party for the love of god! \nThey’re the only ones who gave a shit about kids 😤", ">\n\nIf you haven’t started already, time to start dressing down your local Republicans for voting these fucks into office.", ">\n\nThis country has a fetus fetish. We could give a shit about kids once they are born.", ">\n\nThis is shameful school lunches should be provided for everyone.", ">\n\nGOP: “stop giving handouts they can feed themselves.”", ">\n\nWhy is it such a fight to provide lunch to public school students? I don't get it.", ">\n\nI'm a senior in high school, my lunches cost 2.80 a day for 5 days a week. If I can't get to school on time and get a free breakfast (typically consisting of a pastry and a milk, so about 400 calories) I go hungry the entire day and have nothing to eat at lunch. Almost every school day of 7:40AM-2:40PM, I find it hard to concentrate on work due to a combination of ADHD, Autism, and hunger.", ">\n\n$850 billion for defense spending and no money for hungry children. We should all be ashamed.", ">\n\nit’s depressing that people at my school are so deep in lunch debt that we joke about it and compare amounts", ">\n\nMan republicans REALLY want school kids to die. Whether it’s starving or getting shot.", ">\n\nHow Christian of them", ">\n\nWeren’t school lunches commonplace back when America was originally great?", ">\n\nErm, “Congress” in this title means Republicans, thanks.", ">\n\nFree market win! /s", ">\n\nReminder: \nRed states make up 8/10 of our most DC-dollar dependent states while - nationwide - revenues flow OUT from cities to rural areas. \nRight-wing taker hypocrisy is mind boggling.", ">\n\nWe should be funding this.", ">\n\nWhy is the phrase \"school lunch debt\" even in our vocabulary as Americans?", ">\n\nWho wants to to bet Congress is still spending millions on their food without a hint of irony?", ">\n\n\nA family of four must earn about $36,000 a year or less to qualify for free lunch. \n\nWtf that's insane", ">\n\n\"Prove you're hungry.\"\n-- (R)", ">\n\nProtect children from \"the groomers\" but look the other way when their nutritional needs aren't met. How grimly on brand.", ">\n\nBut Congress still has their deluxe dining hall and all their benefits, right? Because that would be a real tragedy.", ">\n\nThere’s literally 0 good reasons to restrict lunch for kids. None", ">\n\nThey are dismantling every program the people who elected them require to survive", ">\n\nAnother reason it's terrible to be a teacher.", ">\n\nSadly, in our school, the end of the subsidy means lower quality food as the school tries to keep it affordable", ">\n\nBecause it keeps us poors fighting amongst ourselves instead of going after the ultrawealthy." ]