Dan Rather: Have We Reached The Tipping Point?

The president has stooped to using hunger as a political gambit

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	Have We Reached The Tipping Point? The president has stooped to using hunger as a political gambit Dan Rather and Team Steady Oct 30   READ IN APP   A person receiving groceries at a Miami food bank. Credit: Getty Images While there are seemingly no winners when the government shuts down, this time around, millions of Americans are losing big… losing food, losing paychecks, losing benefits, losing security, and losing hope. They are pawns in a game of political brinksmanship. You can't even label them collateral damage because that would imply that what is happening to them is unintentional. It is not. The president fully intends to inflict harm on tens of millions of Americans to notch a win. The Hungry Nearly 42 million Americans receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Originally called food stamps, it's a program that's been around for decades. I was covering the White House in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the measure into law as part of the War on Poverty. Last week, the Department of Agriculture said it will withhold money earmarked by Congress to pay for SNAP during the shutdown, the first time emergency funds have not been released in such a case. Even though the USDA is legally required to fund the program, the president is holding the money hostage. You are reading that correctly. He is withholding food assistance from some of the most vulnerable Americans, more than 16 million of whom are children, in a political ploy to push the Democrats to fold. One of those Democrats, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, called him out. "This is perhaps the most cruel and unlawful offense the Trump administration has perpetrated yet — freezing funding already enacted into law to feed hungry Americans while he shovels tens of billions of dollars out the door to Argentina and into his ballroom," she said. Democratic Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow did not hold back when encouraging her fellow senators to vote to temporarily fund SNAP. "The Trump administration and the Republicans supporting him are using food as a political weapon. This is a choice… They are choosing to let children go hungry. We will not stand for that choice," she said. Share Even if state governments like Michigan's have the money to fund the program for the duration of the shutdown, the USDA has said they will not be reimbursed. An end to the shutdown won't even mean a return to normal funding levels for SNAP. The $186 billion cut to SNAP, outlined in the president's July spending bill, will go into effect as soon as the government reopens. For many households, SNAP is not a cushion, it's a lifeline. When that lifeline is cut, the ripple effects can be immediate and profound. And it's not just low-income families at risk, the knock-on effect of canceled or reduced benefits could echo throughout the economy. SNAP dollars help feed more than 40 million people, which in turn supports farmers, truck drivers, and grocery store workers. When those funds stop flowing, small businesses in low-income neighborhoods often take the first hit. Twenty-three Democratic state attorneys general have sued the USDA to release the money. On Thursday, the U.S. District Court judge hearing the case said she will likely order the administration to send the emergency SNAP funds to the states, which administer the program. The contingency funding is enough to keep the program solvent for two and a half weeks, but getting the money to recipients will take a few days. Federal Workers 730,000 federal employees are working without pay, and an additional 670,000 have been furloughed without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Normally, they all would receive back pay when the shutdown inevitably ends. But as we know, there is nothing normal about this administration. The president has said that federal workers may not get back pay, even though, by law, that is not his call to make. Some cherry-picked segments of the federal workforce are getting paid: active duty military, immigration enforcement agents, and other law enforcement agents. Billionaire and Trump financial backer Timothy Mellon has donated $130 million to the federal government — apparently, a new Trump loyalty test — to pay the 1.3 million members of the military. That sounds like and is a lot of money, but it works out to just $100 per service member. So what is Mellon hoping to get for his largess other than some positive press? And of course, members of Congress are still getting a paycheck, even though the House hasn't been in session since Speaker Mike Johnson, who earns $223,500 a year, sent them home weeks ago. Things are becoming dire for the federal employees, who have now gone without a paycheck for a month. Eligibility for assistance like unemployment is not guaranteed and varies by state. In communities with large federal workforces, food banks have been hastily set up. Airlines have started buying lunch for air traffic controllers, who are working without a paycheck. In California, the governor has deployed the National Guard to help food banks as they brace for increased demand. Anyone With Health Insurance The fight over extending Covid-era subsidies for Obamacare is shining a spotlight on a growing problem: the staggeringly high cost of health insurance in America. The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the developed world and the only country without universal healthcare, according to the World Health Organization. Employer-provided insurance is the most popular, covering 154 million, or 54% of people with insurance. Public insurance, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Health Care, accounts for about 36%. Ten percent get insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Eight percent of Americans are uninsured, an historic low. If federal subsidies for insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act are not extended, premiums will skyrocket, in some cases doubling, even tripling. But the elimination of subsidies is only part of the reason for the rise in premiums. Anyone who pays for health insurance in America will see premiums jump in 2026. The increase, the biggest in 15 years, is expected to be as high as 9% in some cases, according to Mercer, a benefits consultancy. An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found that because of the increases, insurance for a family of four in 2026 will cost $27,000, or the price of a new Toyota Corolla. Higher premiums will mean some people will either opt for cheaper coverage or no coverage at all, driving up premiums even further. The White House refuses to come to the negotiating table unless Democrats agree to open the government first. Someone might want to tell the president that's not how negotiating works. Meanwhile, he and his posse of congressional enablers are losing the battle of public opinion. In a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 45% of respondents blame the president and the Republicans, while 33% blame Democrats. We are beyond finger pointing. In these trying times, those looking for something positive to do, here's a way. Consider donating to your local food pantry or volunteering with an organization like Feeding America or Meals on Wheels. If you need assistance the Feeding America website allows you to search for local food banks. Good-hearted Americans will continue to step up. What should not get lost in all the scare tactics and the political paralysis in Washington is that tens of millions of people go hungry every day in America, the richest country in the world. And that is before the shutdown and callous political maneuvering. The small help some of them get, an average of $190 a month, is being weaponized by a billionaire. Steady is free, but we'd appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. That helps us maintain Steady and continue to make it available for everyone. Subscribed No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan © 2025 Dan Rather 3939 Bee Cave Rd., Bldg. C-100, Austin, Texas 78746

SNAP action day - contact your Congressional legislators

SNAP action day - contact your Congressional legislators

SAVE THE DATE! 

On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, join advocates and individuals across the Northeast region in a powerful SNAP Day of Action. 

More details to come!

Shared from ->   https://www.instagram.com/p/DI_8lKmRd4r/

Download the PDF ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FfYE2afA_Qj08azRVSJfQ-H3TqrWHYKr/view?usp=drive_link

Project Bread has additional info -> https://projectbread.org/events/snap-day-of-action

Congressional Update and Q&A with Congressman Auchincloss scheduled for Sunday,March 30 in Attleboro

Hi neighbor, On Sunday, March 30, I'll be hosting a Congressional Update and Q&A in Attleboro This is an opportunity for you to raise questions and hear updates on what I'm doing to represent the district's values & priorities.  Details about the Q&A are below. I hope you'll be able to join me. Congressional Update and Q&A with Congressman Jake Auchincloss Sunday, March 30 2:00pm – 3:00pm Attleboro, MA Doors will open at 1:00pm  Location provided upon RSVP HERE Sincerely, Jake Auchincloss WASHINGTON 15 Independence Avenue SE 1524 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-5931 NEWTON 29 Crafts Street Suite 375 Newton, MA 02458 Phone: (617) 332-3333 ATTLEBORO 8 North Main Street Suite 200 Attleboro, MA 02703 Phone: (508) 431-1110

Memorandum: Jake Auchincloss’ Fourth Year in Congress

This year, the House GOP pursued a series of wedge issues, torpedoing bipartisan policies in subservience to Donald Trump. Congressman Jake Auchincloss remained focused on working left, right, and center to deliver local wins and bipartisan solutions for the Fourth District of Massachusetts. 

Congressman Auchincloss’ Legislative Victories and Representing Values

• As a “heavy hitter on national security issues,” Auchincloss remained a forceful voice against China, Iran, and Russia’s global axis of authoritarianism serving on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
• Served as Democratic co-chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’s Fentanyl Policy Working Group, where he led three bipartisan bills to crack down on the Chinese Communist Party’s role in subsidizing fentanyl precursors and analogues by coordinating U.S. government actions and implementing sanctions and fines.
• As a Member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, helped draft and pass the overwhelmingly bipartisan reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, including improvements to air traffic control recruitment and training and his own legislation to help airports reduce congestion at the curb.
• Continued his leading role as an advocate for Ukraine’s right to defend itself from Russia’s invasion forces, and was a strong proponent for the congressional aid package earlier this year. 
• Led a letter with 52 House Members urging the Biden administration to pursue more vigorous Russian oil sanctions and questioning an exception granted to a U.S.-based company conducting business in Russia and fueling Vladimir Putin’s war economy. 
• Delivered cable hit after hit forcefully urging President Biden to remove all remaining restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-manufactured weapons in the final months of his presidency. Auchincloss’ Wall Street Journal op-ed implored Biden to enable Ukraine to deploy combined-arms tactics inside enemy territory, just as NATO militaries would. 
• Drafted and gained 60 bipartisan cosponsors for the “strongest set of reforms introduced in Congress to date” to tackle the prescription drug price-gouging abuses of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) – the middlemen of drug pricing – with the bipartisan Pharmacists Fight Back (PFB) Act 
• Confronted the surge in campus antisemitism by holding to account the eight colleges and universities scoring poorly on the ADL’s campus antisemitism report, and by leading a bipartisan letter with over 20 U.S. lawmakers urging the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate these incidents on college campuses and issue a report to Congress with policy recommendations, as it did 20 years ago
• As an “outspoken advocate for gun violence reduction efforts,” wrote to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to encourage school districts to share federal resources available under the Biden administration on safe firearms storage with parents and guardians.
• Used his unique perspective as the youngest parent in the Democratic Caucus to take on trillion-dollar social media corporations on behalf of parents for their corrosive effects on youth mental health. He co-led the successful TikTok divestment bill and introduced his own legislation, the Verifying Kids Online Privacy Act, to raise the age of internet adulthood from 13 to 16 in support of replacing the phone-based childhood with the play-based childhood
• Worked across the aisle to tackle explicit deepfakes on social media – nearly 100% of which is non-consensual, intimate content of women. His legislation, the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, would amend Section 230 to prevent social media companies from evading their responsibility to remove deepfake pornography from their platforms.
•  Delivering Results at Home 

Since his first term in Congress, Congressman Auchincloss has secured tens of millions of dollars in water, transportation, and social services funding across the Massachusetts Fourth. The funds have fixed bridges, cleaned water, and unlocked land for housing. In the past year, he was able to secure over $7 million in FY24 Community Project Funding grants. 

In the past year, Auchincloss’ office provided assistance to constituents across all 35 cities and towns in MA-04:

• Nearly $1.494 million in tax refunds returned
• 1,270+ casework inquiries completed 
• 160+ people helped with Social Security benefits
• 400+ constituents helped with immigration issues
• Nearly 104,598 responses to constituents through emails, letters, and phone calls 

Recognized Leadership

Congressman Auchincloss received the Government Leader Award from the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research in recognition of his commitment to strong intellectual property protection for novel innovation, and health insurance reform that ensures first-dollar coverage for medicines.

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark stated “Jake Auchincloss is a policy leader on lowering patients’ prescription drug costs. In his first term, he helped negotiate and pass the law that empowered Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Now he’s at the forefront of efforts to ensure that health insurers improve patient access and lower out-of-pocket costs.

Shattering Echo Chambers

Congressman Auchincloss continued his aggressive “go everywhere” media strategy this year, using his voice as a “prominent, pragmatic, voice among younger members of the Democratic caucus” to reach diverse audiences. 

• During his fourth year in office, he made over 275 podcast, local media, and national television appearances. 
• While he represents some of the bluest zip codes in the country, the largest city in his district, Fall River, flipped red for President Trump for the first time since President Coolidge in 1924. Congressman Auchincloss appeals to both constituencies, as he is one of the Democrats that makes regular rounds on non-traditional media and conservative media outlets like Fox News.
• As part of this approach, Auchincloss has consistently shattered echo chambers on both the far right and far left: be it flipping the script on the GOP’s pandering to the NRA on conservative media, or pushing back on the far-left’s bad faith attacks on Israel. 
• This spring, Auchincloss garnered national headlines for calling out the far-left’s double-standard of failing to condemn the surge in antisemitic college protests. 
• Called a “particularly tough interrogator of PBM executives” at a House Oversight Hearing in July,  Auchincloss continued keeping the price-gouging abuses of PBMs at the forefront of national attention. Despite the GOP’s caving to the health insurance lobby at the end of this year, he will continue to put maximum pressure on PBMs next Congress. 

As we head into another year of Republican leadership and a second Donald Trump presidency,  Congressman Auchincloss will continue to defend democracy at home and abroad; uphold the rule of law and the sanctity of the Constitution; and advance bipartisan legislation to deliver results for Bay Staters.

Memorandum: Jake Auchincloss’ Fourth Year in Congress

A Note from Congressman Auchincloss Marking One Year Since the Terrorist Attack on October 7, 2023 The terrorism of 7 October 2023 was an attack against Israel's right to exist. Israel, though, was not its only target. The barbarity was meant to make Jews of all nations afraid. To Jews here in Massachusetts, it was an earthquake that still reverberates in ways both personal and political.  The ongoing response of the free world to October 7th must encompass both international and domestic policy. On the international front, the United States must endeavor to lead the world in supporting Israel as it defends itself against the ring of fire encircling it: Hamas to its south, Hezbollah to its north, proxy terror groups in Iraq and Syria to its east, all fueled by the Islamic Republic of Iran. That support will take various forms – diplomatic, military, counsel – but always, it is deeper than personalities and politics. It draws on shared values and the common conviction that Israel and America are on the same side in the fight for freedom, democracy, and peace.  World leaders should forgo false moral equivalency and commit to the side of peace, for the sake of the Israeli people as well as the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iranian people – and millions more who have been immiserated by the Islamic Republic of Iran's 50-year campaign of fanaticism and strife. On the home front, the United States and every nation must not allow fear to take hold. Antisemitism must be given no quarter in our politics, our education, our society. Jews will need allies in this effort. October 7 apologism, including the despicable dismissal of sexual violence against women, grows in the same illiberal soil that nourishes violence and bigotry in all its hateful forms. All who believe in social justice must uproot all forms of hate, including antisemitism. This anniversary arrives during the Jewish High Holidays. In our reflection and remembrance, let us hold close the hostages and their families. The hostages have been brutalized for a year, their families tormented. They must be returned, and there must be justice. Sincerely, Jake Auchincloss WASHINGTON 15 Independence Avenue SE 1524 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-5931 NEWTON 29 Crafts Street Suite 375 Newton, MA 02458 Phone: (617) 332-3333 ATTLEBORO 8 North Main Steet Suite 200 Attleboro, MA 02703 Phone: (508) 431-1110

Congressman Auchincloss: An Update For the prior 2 weeks (as of 3/19/24)

LAST 2 WEEKS IN REVIEW I'm your representative in Congress and I write to keep you informed. Introducing legislation to hold social media corporations accountable for youth mental health Supporting TikTok's divestment State of the Union recap Lowering drug prices Ukraine aid update Bay State students in Washington           —  Biotech conversation with European consuls general Talking taxes with Citizens for Citizens Visiting Mansfield Delivering funds for bridges, clean water, and after-school activities On the Hill Introducing legislation to hold social media corporations accountable for youth mental health: I was excited to welcome Myrieme Nadri-Churchill, one of my constituents from Brookline, as my guest for President Biden's State of the Union. Myrieme is the Executive Director of Parents for Peace, a non-profit that empowers families, friends, and communities to prevent teens from falling victim to radicalization, violence, and extremism online using a public health approach. With the help of Myrieme's invaluable counsel, I recently introduced legislation to hold social media companies accountable for their effects on American youth. The Verifying Kids Online Privacy Act would build on the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000 (COPPA) by 1) increasing the internet age of adulthood from 13 to 16, and 2) requiring social media companies to verify the ages of their users in a privacy-protected manner. As the youngest Democratic parent in Congress, I am intent on ensuring that parents don't have to fight the Big Tech companies alone. Congress must protect our children's well-being from the greed of social media platforms that productize our children's attention spans for the benefit of advertisers.  Supporting TikTok's divestment: Last week, I voted to force TikTok to separate from its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, as the first step in a comprehensive policy to support youth mental health and de-platform disinformation. Under Chinese law, TikTok is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.  There are three steps Congress should take:  Step 1: Force TikTok to answer to Congress, not the Chinese Communist Party. Step 2: Pass my legislation to raise the age of internet adulthood from 13 to 16. Step 3: Hold social media corporations accountable for illegal actions committed on their platforms, through Section 230 reform.  State of the Union recap: I joined MSNBC following President Biden's State of the Union address to share my key takeaways on the sharp contrasts the president laid out between Democrats' and Republicans' positions on reproductive freedom, affordable healthcare, addressing gun violence, and defending our allies against dictators. The enduring legacy of Obamacare is just one example. For over a decade, Democrats have been fighting on behalf of the American patient to protect those with pre-existing conditions, and we're going to continue that fight against insurance companies to lower prescription drug costs.  The president opened the speech by directly linking January 6th with the Ukraine war: both are examples of authoritarians trampling on the rule of law. Russians didn't get a free and fair vote for their president in 2024; but Americans do. We must consider which vision of the American future to believe in – possibilities and progress or anger and regression.  Lowering prescription drug pricing: I joined The Hill for a fireside chat focused on lowering prescription drug pricing. I discussed my plan to rein in pharmacy benefit managers, which are drug-pricing middlemen owned by Fortune 50 health insurance companies. In particular, I advocated bipartisan legislation I helped introduce in the House, the Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act, which would sever the link between PBM compensation and the cost of medications. After decades of aggressive lobbying by the likes of UnitedHealthcare, Congress must get serious about holding these drug-pricing middlemen accountable. In his State of the Union speech, President Biden highlighted how Democrats were able to come together to take on the health insurance companies and pass Obamacare in the 2010s. This decade's fight against the insurance lobby must include lowering drug costs through PBM reform. Ukraine aid update: I spoke with CNN's Kasie Hunt about the immediate need for Congress to authorize additional military assistance for our allies in Ukraine. I signed a discharge petition filed by Congressman McGovern to force a vote on Ukraine aid in the House. Congress has the votes to fund Ukraine in its fight for freedom, but Speaker Johnson refuses to allow an up-or-down vote on the floor. I encourage all my Democratic colleagues – and those Republican Members who quote Reagan in their campaign ads – to join me and sign the discharge petition. MA-04 students in Washington: I welcomed groups from Dexter-Southfield, Dover-Sherborn, and my own alma mater, Newton North, over the last two weeks during their annual trips to D.C. With our nation's Capitol as the backdrop, I talked to students about the importance of social media regulations (they didn't always agree), supporting Ukraine, and defending democracy at home and abroad. They asked questions about a typical day in the life of a Congressman and how I got the job. I advised them to be willing to take risks in pursuit of their curiosity. I'm always impressed by how thoughtful and engaged Bay State students are. Make your voice heard → I want to hear from you.  Do you support forcing TikTok to be owned by a U.S. company? Around the Fourth Biotech conversation with European consuls general: I met with consuls general from Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy to discuss how the life sciences in Massachusetts factor into the global biotech enterprise. In the wide-ranging conversation, we discussed the importance of immigration, medical research, IP laws, and commercialization policies that reward makers, not takers. A booming biotech sector has propelled the Bay State's economy for over twenty years, but policymakers should not allow our success to justify complacency. Other states and countries–friends and foes alike–are competing hard.  In my recent op-ed on the subject in the Boston Globe, I explain how Congress should support progress:  "Rationalizing the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, as recently advised by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, is one opportunity to reward biotech makers and discourage snake-oil salesmen, by simultaneously streamlining and toughening regulations. Another example is regulating pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen of the drug supply chain who decide on behalf of insurance companies which drugs patients can access. The PBMs take billions in profits that should be directed to lowering patients' out-of-pocket costs. In addition to supporting talent and passing pro-maker policy, policymakers should also provide infrastructure and standards for the life sciences. Clinical trials are the most expensive phase of biomedical innovation and are getting costlier. Improving the efficiency and diversity of clinical trials would be a rising tide to lift all biomedical boats, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which I helped site in Massachusetts, should make it a priority. Another way to lift all boats is standardization, especially across bio-manufacturing, a growth sector for Massachusetts. Standardization of conventions, measures, and data reduces friction and amplifies U.S. soft power in international industry, as it did for telecommunications." Talking taxes with CFC: I met with Citizens for Citizens (CFC), a Massachusetts Community Action Agency that assists over 30,000 individuals in the Greater Fall River and Taunton areas each year to provide short-and long-term services for low-income individuals and families. CFC provided information about free tax prep services offered through the Massachusetts Association for Community Action.  The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax preparation services for qualifying taxpayers. The VITA program has operated for over 50 years and provides free tax help to people who need assistance in preparing their tax returns, including: People who generally make $64,000 or less Persons with disabilities Limited English-speaking taxpayers Our district has five VITA locations: CAN-DO in Newton, Citizens for Citizens in Fall River, Franklin Public Library in Franklin, and High Street Veterans Family Learning Center and Trustman Family Learning Center in Brookline. You can find the one nearest to you using the IRS locator tool: Find a Location for Free Tax Prep. Visiting Mansfield: I kicked off a full day in Mansfield by meeting with seniors at the Village at Willow Crossing, a senior living community that over 200 seniors call home. I toured the neighborhood and main lodge, which features 24-hour healthcare support that includes expert mind and memory care developed with Alzheimer's specialists. We discussed Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices and the lowering of Part D costs for millions. Now, Congress must ensure that health insurance companies are passing on further negotiated prescription drug savings to patients. Next, I joined seniors for the town's annual St. Patrick's Day Lunch at the Mansfield Council On Aging, where we continued the conversation on the future of Medicare. Many also asked about Social Security, and I emphasized my commitment to protecting those earned benefits as well as my continued support of the Social Security Fairness Act and the Social Security 2100 Act. Then, alongside Rep. Adam Scanlon and Town Manager Kevin Dumas, I toured the Cate Springs PFAS treatment plant, which was funded in part by the American Rescue Plan. Cate Springs is one of several local PFAS treatment facilities supported by federal funds. Clean drinking water is a human right, and since taking office I have directed millions of dollars to local PFAS remediation. Finally, I wrapped up the day at the Mansfield BioIncubator to meet with the startup Aclarity, which electrochemically destroys PFAS using technology invented in Massachusetts. Tougher EPA regulations are rightfully pushing industry, landfills, and treatment plants to eliminate PFAS rather than cycle it. Delivering wins for the MA-04: I am excited to announce that my office was able to secure $14,000,000 in Community Project Funding for important infrastructure projects across the district. We focused on bridges, clean water, and affordable housing. Onwards, Jake WASHINGTON 15 Independence Avenue SE 1524 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-5931 NEWTON 29 Crafts Street Suite 375 Newton, MA 02458 Phone: (617) 332-3333 ATTLEBORO 8 North Main Steet Suite 200 Attleboro, MA 02703 Phone: (508) 431-1110 Contact