Retrospect
Retrospect
SNAP Suspension And The Retail Shockwave | Retrospect Ep.212
In this week’s episode we discussed the looming freeze of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which could leave over 40 million Americans scrambling for groceries come November if federal funding isn’t restored. Together, we’ll unpack the real-world consequences for families, communities and national businesses and ask: what happens when your biggest safety net suddenly vanishes?
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Keywords
SNAP benefits, Walmart, government shutdown, food insecurity, policy changes, work requirements, federal funding, state budgets, economic impact, retail sector, illegal immigration, healthcare subsidies, community support, generational differences, entitlement.
Jason
Today, we're talking about something that hits right at the intersection of survival and corporate power, snap, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Walmart. Now, if you've ever used snap, or know someone who does, you already know how important it is, but keeps food on the table for millions of families every single month. But here's the thing, there's a side of this story that doesn't get talked about nearly enough, because while snap is supposed to help people eat, it's also become a huge business driver, especially for big retailers like WalMart. We're talking billions of dollars in SNAP money flowing into one company's cash registers, and lately, the relationship between Walmart and snap has gotten complicated. Walmart's been reinstating minimum basket fees for online snap orders, even as people's benefits are shrinking. Meanwhile, Congress is still fighting over who deserves help and how much food assistance should cost taxpayers. And caught in the middle are real people, parents, kids, seniors, who just need to eat. So today we're asking what happens when a government program built to fight hunger becomes part of a corporate business model. Who really benefits from how snap works right now, and who's getting left behind. We'll look at the latest policy shifts, talk about what Walmart's doing with the online EBT orders, and unpack what these changes mean for families trying to stretch every dollar. Because this isn't just a story about food assistance, it's a story about economics dignity and how Poverty gets priced one grocery trip at a time.
Ian
Okay? The retrospect podcast, a show where people come together from different walks of life and discuss a topic from their generation's perspective. My name is Ian, and as always, I'm joined by Stoney,
Stoney
hello
Ian
and Jason.
Jason
Hello everyone.
Ian
How's it going?
Jason
Oh, well, I was busy this weekend. I'm still purging my house of stuff. No, really, I'm not done. And believe it or not, I had I found something that I didn't even know I was missing. Was going through a one of those bed Chester drawer, you know, things to keep at the end of your bed. Yeah, I said, we need to clean this out. We need to throw this thing away because it's ratty and it's everybody's been on me to throw it away. And I'm like, Okay, we got to get rid of this. And I've been meaning to do it. And of course, you know, prior to meeting Tracy, it was kind of one of those things that I'll get to it when I get to it, and I never got to it, right? So I'm going through it. And lo and behold, I found my service gun from my first time when I came on the job. Okay, that I didn't even know I was missing.
Ian
Were you supposed to, like, turn that in, or was that like, no, it's fine.
Jason
I just didn't know it was there. And lo and bold, I said, Well, that's where that thing has been the whole time. Did it still load it get out? Yes, okay. And I just simply said, you know, why? How did this thing even end up in here? Yeah, but so it's back. It's in the safe, okay, and
Ian
I have you taken it out to go shoot it at all? No, I haven't. I haven't shot that gun, and
Jason
it's been over 20 years, probably, but it was a SIG, okay, when, you know, when we carry SIG and so, yeah, but I was like, I remember when I, when I, yeah, I got that gun, and it was like, wow, I'd never even it. Just shows you how many things I have in the safe that they didn't even come on, come up, but luckily, I found it, and it's safe, but so,
Ian
yeah, I love the idea of, like, Oh, look at this, and
Jason
it's just did that, and just really, right now I'm gonna tell you what. I don't know if you've been following the news, but this, this hurricane out. Yeah, Caribbean is, I mean, I haven't. I had a terrible ordeal, whatever. Now I feel bad for those people, and I think it was Jamaica
Stoney
that's fixed in Cuba.
Ian
So yeah, I didn't hear anything about it until you guys had walked in, and you guys were kind of making a or you guys were talking about, you know, stuff about it. And I was like, oh, what's going on? And Stoney was like, you haven't seen and I was like, No. And he showed. Me just this absolutely massive red.on the map with a little bit with a little like, perfect circular eye in the middle of it. And I was like, Man, that is scary. Yeah, it made me, it made me forget that. Like, obviously, yes, we're still, like, in that season, but it's like, it hasn't, we haven't had a anything like that in a in a moment, or I haven't heard anything about it in the news, as far as, like, anything all over the news. Well, I'm saying, like, until now, a
Jason
storm is brewing.
Stoney
So crazy, here's hoping there may be another storm brewing too, huh? Yeah, remember the third
Jason
Yeah, I think it's gonna be a man made storm.
Stoney
Government made storm. Democrat made storm.
Jason
Yeah, I think everybody's aware right now, but the government shutdown and and what's kind of, you know, everybody's heard different sides of whose fault it is, and on and on and on. But I mean, well,
Stoney
there's only one fault, and that's the Democrats are holding on for health care for illegal immigrants. That's the bottom line to all of this, you know? Yeah. And to be honest with you, they're the moderates. Are even starting to get tired of this, because now they're hurting the very people that they say they represent, and those people are getting pretty pissed off. Yeah, I
Jason
think the I think I saw a statement from the National like federal employee union or whatever it is, a generally there or strongly on the Democratic side of the political aisle, and they're even saying, y'all need to pass the bill and fund the government. You can continue to discussions on the merits of the of the of the ACA subsidies, and I think that's a separate, separate issue, but Right? You know, I had my head bit off. I made a comment about about that, and tell you what, there's a there's a lot of people that are, are very much, are big on those ACA subsidies. I mean, they're saying, Well, my family wouldn't have insurance if it wasn't for that, and they couldn't afford this, and they couldn't afford that. And look, I get all that. I truly do. I'm very sympathetic. I've always said our healthcare system is broken. Something needs to be done to get it in a better posture than what it is. I don't know what that is. I'm sure there are a lot of very smart people out there that have looked at this issue
Ian
and have also said this is messed up. It's messed up.
Jason
I just, I just think in the American model of health care, I just think there is a we have probably too much stuff. The the actual administration of health care is vastly more expensive in the United States it is on the parts of the world. And there's reasons for that, and that's neither here nor there, but that's unfortunately, what's, you know, this shutdown is, is causing side effects, which, you know, brings up our episode today regarding snap. I mean, now the the, you know, the US Department of Agriculture said November 1, that all funding is going to cease and the well is dried up. Well,
Stoney
the big, the big part of the episode, when I toss it out there, is not just snap, but it's actually November the third. And November the third, there's been a declaration of war by the Democrats on Walmart, yeah, between 630 and 730 on Monday, the third they say they can't arrest us all, and to go and rush and take everything out of every Walmart that you can get, because it looks like this is how we're going to get Our Thanksgiving meals. And what they're saying is, is the rumors are out there that Walmart is going to, on the first going to shut down, except for and this because nobody, they don't have money. They're not getting money in to go buy stuff, and so they're going to be rioting in the stores and pillaging, or what. What's the right word for that, looting the stores. And if you're a normal person, they're going to steal your buggy. If you're walking out of the Walmart, they're going to steal your stuff, and so, and I'm like, You need to think about that right because if you come after the right person, your kids are going to be in foster care. Because just as much as you are trying to provide for your family, oh yeah, I'm trying to provide for my family, and if you come after me, your kids will be in foster care. Yeah, and I'm not being I don't want to say I'm not being ugly. I'm just being. Very truthful in that matter. Yeah, don't you know, I understand you got to do what you got to do, take care of your family, but when you impede me taking care
Ian
of you attack me and take my buddy in a parking lot. I'm I'm gonna fight back. I'll deal with it, right?
Stoney
Yeah, and it's just sad that in the Depression, things were much more dire than this. Okay, we're talking about people maybe or maybe not being able to eat or find food. But in the Depression, there was no food. Oh, yeah. And this went on for a decade, yep. And none of this was going on. People got together and they did things. They did soup lines, they did bread lines, they tried to do some community gardens, if somebody had it, they tried to share as best as possible. Now look some bigger cities did have some bigger problems, but nobody was rioting and looting, and the depression was 1000 this is this season. We're not even there yet, and we're talking about looting. I don't understand that, yeah, because I can remember people coming together, and I think this is part of the online thing, and we've destroyed the healthy neighborhoods of people wanting to come together. We still kind of see some glimpses of it, like with Katrina and the storm of 16, where neighborhoods really had to come together, right? Because you didn't have electricity, your freezer foot, so everybody had these big pots and barbecue pits and trying to feed people and stuff. But this is just crazy to me, that on social media, I counted so far over 150 different videos of different people saying, go to Walmart and do this. Just take
Jason
what you want. Just take whatever you want. Well, I mean, that's happening, believe it or not. I mean, that's going on already now. I mean, there are a lot of these big cities, there are people. There's just so much walking, walking into stores and just taking stuff and leaving. I mean, they're not even stopping them because of and I don't blame stores telling their employees not to try to do stop these people because of the potential injuries, and, you know, they don't want them liability, but, and that's why a lot of these stores are closing up. And unfortunately these, a lot of these places are located in low income areas where those people need a viable place to go grocery shop or to go do things, but they can't stay open because there's just too much crime. And this kind of stuff that just, you know, mentioned, that Stoney just mentioned, just continues to feed this narrative that, you know, we don't care about the law as much as I hear about, you know, the, you know, Democrats using, you know, against the Republicans that you don't believe in the law and blah blah blah and blah, blah blah. You know, you need to look at your own self here. What messaging Are you sending out there? Yeah, just go and steal stuff that. That's their answer. And I may say it, but that's where we're at right now. That's what I'm saying. It's what I'm hearing from political parties now. Is something I thought I would never, ever hear. I mean, at one time both parties were I would venture to say, well, Law and Order people, you know, now it's obviously, maybe it's changed.
Stoney
I mean, the wiring is different in people, okay, just the internal wiring is so different. What wiring made the Depression era Americans give instead of take, to where now it's take instead of give. I mean, just That's a complete wiring reset.
Jason
While, like I said, that was the that was the great society with Lyndon Johnson, that that change, and I would venture say it probably started under FDR, with the new deal. I mean, look, I think back on my my grandparents, on my mother's side of the family, that were part of the, you know, we're in the 26 the flood along the Mississippi River. And what they had no help, you know? And they literally had nothing at that time. And, you know, you have all these kids, and you're trying to survive, and you've got no help. It's just you and your your husband out there trying to make that's what I'm saying. We have become now. The population has become so conditioned to the government handing out stuff, we can't imagine a time when that didn't exist. I mean, it just that's why. People go in a panic nowadays, just like we hear them with this snap stuff. Yeah, they're the panicking is starting because they're terrified of how I'm gonna
Stoney
eat. One of Ronald Reagan's greatest quotes is the most dangerous statement ever spoken was, Hello, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help. Okay, you know, but here we come back to this. The community is gone. You know, the decline of community is so changed the way we define what's even right and wrong anymore.
Ian
I think a big thing, like I just said a second ago, is entitlement. Like, from what I've seen online, a little bit, is like the I'm owed this nice not to say that you're, I think you're right that the community aspect isn't, but it's, it's more so, like, I'm going to protect my community and I'm owed this, like I I deserve this. And it's like, even though you Well,
Stoney
this is one of my questions I was gonna throw it at you guys, is, are modern generations truly more selfish or simply more desperate and disillusioned or delusional,
Ian
selfish, I
Jason
would venture to say entitled. I think we're all to a degree entitled, because once you get something and you get it on a regular basis, it becomes an entitlement. It just does, and you get used to it. You know, it's like anything you get used to it. I mean, just like people before that didn't have it, they still lived, and life went on. You just you adapt it to those circumstances, and you lived as best you could. And look, I'm not against the government trying to help people. I think there is a place for that. I think, unfortunately, it's become a crutch, and it's become a way of life for many people, and the original intent was to help. I meant the whole social welfare system was really tailored to the poverty in Appalachia. That kind of what's the driving force of that? Because that was some object poverty in that, especially coming out of the depression. I mean, people not having nothing. So, I mean, we think we have nothing, but the reality is we've got it pretty good. I mean, the supply chains and just kind of the our modern day infrastructure has made it where, I mean, if I need help, I can vent, I can find a shelter or somebody or somewhere that I can get a meal. If you're in that
Stoney
desperate situation, they gave away cheese and flour and spam and they gave you stuff to sustain you. Now I'm entitled to get what I can so I can get my nails done, get my hair did, and have the new, latest, greatest iPhone and tablet and be able to put rims on my car. Yeah. Well, okay, see, the whole mentality is different. See, back in the Depression time, even if you were broke, you could still be good. But now the in 2025 the message is, if you're broke, the system failed you. So take what's yours. And this is a whole for me. This is a whole rewiring of the just the moral. You know, this kind of an immoral economy, if you think about it, right? I mean, really, I mean you're going to take what's yours really do something positive, and you know, your brothers and your sisters and your neighborhoods and everybody right there are going to be in the same jam as you. Why don't you come together and let's do something positive and help each other out?
Jason
Because we don't do that anymore. And I think we've touched on this theme throughout this podcast. Over a few years, we've been we've been doing this. We have turned inward. You know, there are consequences to our world today. We're not communal, as in times past, where people did kind of get together in times of crisis. I'm not saying it doesn't happen. It still does, but I think there are large swathes of the population that are very much looking out for themselves, and I don't care who I have to to hurt or whatever I have to do to take care of me. And unfortunately, that language you just, you know, you kind of mentioned about what's being said out there to me, that's an echo of, of a, of a, of an undercurrent in our society that, you know, somehow I've gotten screwed, or, you know, this goes back to this, you know, this pushing this, this victimhood, that you're a victim constantly, and you know the system's out to get you, and the boogeyman is around the corner. And you know it. It's nothing about maybe I need to adopt more of of what I would call a John F Kennedy approach. Is what can I do for for my government, versus what my government can do for me? I think somehow that this got in, it got turned upside down and and we're not the same country anymore. We're just we're just not and so the things that motivated people at that time in responding to a tragedy, those people were begging to work. They were looking for work. That's why eventually, you know, the all the government projects started during that time was to put people to work, and that helped us get out of the problem we had. But today, you give somebody a shovel and said, Hey, go dig ditches or do what, or do some sort of they'll laugh at you. It's too hard. I can't do that. Well, I guess it's you're not we must not be as bad as you think
Stoney
you are. John Wayne said it best. Life is hard. It's harder when you're stupid. Yeah, that's a good I like that. Go get a job and do something and provide for yourself. That is what the true American dream was, to come here and make something of yourself work, not let the government make it for you, right?
Jason
And that's what I'm saying. We've, we've made the government into Santa Claus. We have and unfortunately, people vote sugar daddy. Well, that too. People vote. Well, people will always vote for Santa Claus, or sugar daddy, or sugar daddy. You know, if you're so inclined, if you're so inclined to go,
Stoney
we need to be sugar mama, or can be both.
Jason
Okay, that's that's true. But I was kind of looking at, kind of some of this stuff that there are, were some changes in the, the
Ian
big, beautiful bill. Okay,
Jason
I kind of want to kind of go on some of the proposed policy changes to snap, just for our listeners out there, just to kind of give you an idea what's going on with this stuff. What they've done was the maximum age for able bodied adults without dependents subject to the work requirement has been increased from 54 to 64 they said, basically, adults in this age range, age range, must now work, volunteer or participate in a training program for at least 80 hours per month to receive benefits for more than three months over a 36 month period, which is, to me, it's not
Ian
bad, that's not bad. 80 hours a month. It's not bad.
Stoney
It's okay. 20 hours a week, yeah, you know, four hours a day
Ian
when I when I worked, when I worked in the well, when I worked for a coffee shop, that was like the minimum requirement for health benefits, you had to work 20 hours a week. That was like, if you, if you worked any less than that, you weren't eligible for the it was like, kind of like a part time employee. Yeah. So just saying, to put things in perspective, I mean, like I would
Jason
they've kind of narrowed the exemptions. They say previous exemptions for veterans, individuals experiencing homelessness and former foster youth are now removed. These groups must now meet the same work requirements as before. The exemption for caregivers has also been narrowed, now applying only to those with a child under 14 rather than 18,
Ian
wow, oh, that's Yeah. That makes sense, because you can start, you can start a part time job at
Jason
15, exactly. That's probably the thinking. They said, Yeah. Limited waivers. The ability for states to waive work requirements in areas with high unemployment has been severely restricted. Waivers are now only available for areas with an unemployment rate of over 10% a threshold that's rarely met. That's a lot. A new exemption, a new exemption from the work requirement, has been created for American Indians, Alaska Natives and other tribal members reduced benefits for some households, a utility allowance cuts. They said households without an elderly or disabled member will no longer qualify for the snap standard utility allowance simply by receiving a nominal energy assistance payment, they must now provide documentation of the actual utility cost. I'm glad, yeah, I can see how that could get abused. The Congressional Budget Office estimates suggest that 600,000 households could lose an average of one. $100 per month due to this change.
Ian
Oh my gosh. But they could lose that because they're also probably fudging a number. Yeah, that's, I was clear from my
Jason
side. It's sort of like it's, it's a little different, but it's kind of the same vein here, like so people that claim losses during a natural disaster, especially people working for cash. And now, all of a sudden, they'll they'll have any documentation of how much money they're making, and they're claiming, well, they lost this the government saying, Okay, show me proof. Show me w twos, show me. And they can't show it because they've been fudging how much money they've been making. So, I mean, people always trying to game the system, you know, that's just, oh yeah, like I said, was careful. I was curious. Always trying to work, you know, trying to benefit. And I get it, I get it. But, you know, you got to have rules otherwise. Otherwise you got the problem. We got now. They said the new law in SNAP eligibility for many immigrants granted humanitarian protection, including asylum seekers, refugees and survivors of domestic violence or trafficking. Congressional Budget Office estimates this change will cut approximately 90,000 people from snap,
Ian
wow.
Jason
A lot of changes to to this program. They said, beginning fiscal year 28 states, we required to fund a portion. So I guess the federal government saying, okay, state y'all got to put some money up, which it should be that way, and I
Ian
think, also, I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure that would incentivize the states to probably be a little bit more, a little, let's not just hand this out to anybody,
Jason
because otherwise you're gonna be running out of money. And states have to budget, yeah, they have to actually come to zero, yeah, every year, because they can't deficit spend.
Stoney
Well, right now, Louisiana is one of the few states that are trying to look for a temporary stop gap for November. They're working on some short term solution to cover the snaps, where they're going to move some money from the Department of Health, 140 $250 million to help cover this. To help this the citizens of Louisiana during this time. It's temporary stop gap. I mean, it's not a permanent thing, because that's, that's a substantial amount of money. Oh, but it's gonna be they realize, you know, there's 847,000 people in Louisiana who rely on SNAP every month. Wow. Yeah. We have a we have a pie. Yeah, and they're saying that it won't cover everyone. There's, you know, food banks. I was just about to say things like that are already strained, yep. So you said
Ian
it's a lot of money. But I was like, that's a but, trust me, money is going to go fast. Yeah,
Jason
they say the cost sharing requirement is based upon the state's payment error rate. And they could, basically four states cover up to 15% okay, they'll have to come up with so it's going to be, you know, more rule, you know more these changes are going to, you know, states are going to have to kind of eat this, which means they're going to have to start juggling money around and where areas where it got money now they may not get it anymore. Because
Stoney
there's something that kind of popped into my head on this too, was, what about the schools that depend on these funds for the free meals? That's that's going to be significant, because now what day, all of a sudden, we're not going to be able to be able to feed our kids in school.
Jason
They may not if, once the snap funding ends, I don't know how they're going to get money. Let's just say, unless these states will have to step up and find money to at least temporarily do this, until they figure something out in Washington about how they're going to handle this.
Stoney
But and see that's something I've thought of for years. If those kids are required to be there by law, they should be fed a substantial, healthy meal by the state for free, all kids, that should not even be a question.
Jason
Well, I think that's the deal with the schools and money. I just I don't know what the answer is. That's what I'm saying. I've said all along, there's so many things that we need to fix in this country, and it just aggravates me when I see how much money we send we spend overseas. I said, What could that money do here? Yeah, to help our own citizen citizenry that needs help truly needs exactly. I just that's, that's a part of me that I will never, I'll never understand. And I think in saying that, I believe that's just a common sense thing, and I look, I understand we live in the world. World. I mean, where there's obligations around the globe that our country makes treaties with and and I understand all that, but I mean, I just think on some level, we have to something's got to click here. I mean, it's like we got to take care of this country first, and then we're worried about the rest of the world, because we can't adequately address problems in other part of the world until we're strong, right? You know, until we're our population is taken care of and and all this. And I just think right now, with all the, you know, over the last four years, at unrestricted immigration, you got all these people pouring into these cities. They're using hospitals. They're using all these things as draining resources. It's a mess, and that's what I'm saying. People playing politics with this stuff, and we're in a mess we're in right now. They said the federal share of the state administrative costs would be reduced from 50% to 25% starting in fiscal year 27 funding for the snap nutrition education obesity prevention grant program is being eliminated after the fiscal year 2025 allocation. Wow, so that there's going to be some changes that are coming with this. But, I mean, we're at a point now where, I mean, nothing's happening, simply because they can't, they can't come to an agreement, right?
Stoney
And it's going to reach even further than that. I think there's an estimate of almost three quarters of a million federal employees that have been furloughed. That means they're not receiving money, yeah, and, you know, that's a significant, you know, portion of people that just aren't, you know, just not going to be spending. I mean, that's lost wages, you know, productivity, morale, a whole bunch of stuff, and the federal government's going to tank, right so who are the Democrats really ticking off about this right now? I mean, this is the working class people that they say they're supposed to represent and they want to die on the line of, we want, you know, medical help or insurance for illegal immigrants. That should be a separate bill. The government shutdown should be this vote on it, and we're going to watch your vote and then submit this over here, and then we'll watch those votes. And if it loses, it loses, it shouldn't have anything to do with something else. And that's what's kind of irritating me about this whole situation is, is they're going to be hurting a lot of good people in this country on a hill that they're willing to die on? Yeah. I mean, the Democrat Party is, is dying right now.
Jason
Well, right now they're rallying around a foreigner that's running for New York.
Stoney
They're rallying around a communist.
Jason
Yeah, that's what. That's what it's come down to. That's what I'm saying. The Democratic Party is
Stoney
okay. It's illegal to be a US citizen and be a communist.
Jason
It's just it's, I don't even recognize that party looks nothing like it was back when I grew up and and how what I heard from them, I mean, it's something has just, they have embraced a leftist ideology, an economic populism. That's just, I don't, I don't know where you got where that's going to lead. But right now, I mean, it's going
Stoney
on. We see where it's leading. It's the destruction of the Democrat Party. Is what's happening, because it's imploding from the inside, and the inner fighting is getting ridiculous. And look who, look who the spokespeople are. AOC, well, Gavin Newsom, oh, good Lord,
Jason
just what I hear. Man, that guy's destroyed California, and then they're sitting here trying to make him out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. I
Ian
was gonna make a joke. Please do have you guys seen the Have you guys had the original Shrek, the the main antagonist of that film Lord Farquaad, yes, he's like some of you may die and that's a sacrifice. Like it feels like that. It's all about them. They
Jason
don't. That's what I'm saying. What's so sad is, as much as you know, Trump has always had high negativity, right? You know, unfavorable ratings, and that's fine, that's what I'm saying, considering that the Democratic Party has not been able to capitalize on some of this, yeah, just tells you how bad they are. I mean,
Stoney
I'm sorry, but I secretly think a lot of people. People are looking to him kind of for the answers, even though they don't want to admit it exactly. I don't want to say this in front of everybody, but come on, Mr. Trump, do your thing. Please fix this problem for us. My Benefits. I had
Ian
a conversation recently with someone about, like, the potential next political election. And I was like, I there may be a secret Democrat out there somewhere that may be able to run. They can knock our sauce. That's why I said secret. That's why it
Stoney
says right now it's AOC and Gavin Newsom, just who wants to be vice president. More
Jason
Kamala Harris has mentioned she probably will run again. So all I'm
Ian
saying is like, again, yes, I'm talking about
Stoney
those votes up. That's what we need. Dumb, dumber and dumber.
Ian
All I was saying was that whenever that happens, I was like, I think that the right now, the Democratic Party is not, is not nearly as strong as I think it was in the past. And that's Oh god.
Jason
It's terrible. It's terrible right now and but I'm telling you as a result of all this going on. I mean, part of our conversation here is about Walmart. They could lose up to about 2 billion from this right now, every day, 2 billion in November. Okay, you know, because if they don't, the way it works out, how money is distributed them, yeah. So according to a June report from the market research data firm numerator, Walmart, accounts for roughly a quarter. 24% of SNAP shoppers total spending.
Stoney
Wow, yeah. But see, they've been doing some stuff about snap to there's, they've implemented this. You got to have a minimum snap order. And they're, they're doing some sketchy stuff with the whole snap thing, anyway, so I don't know it's,
Jason
it says here says, given the estimate, estimated 100 billion spent by the government on the program annually. How much 100 billion? Roughly
Ian
saying is it 20 billion? Yeah,
Jason
two, two, well, they says roughly 8.3 billion monthly. So basically, Walmart is getting through this. This would imply a loss of about 2 billion for Walmart if the benefits are withheld for the entire month of November.
Ian
Oh, man, you better believe it's gonna make that Walmart. It's not gonna be, yeah,
Stoney
so you think it's gonna be bad? They're gonna go from two cashiers to one now,
Jason
well, I mean, you're starting to see that's eventually, I mean, it's now you go to these stores, it's all self checkout. And they got,
Stoney
they're getting away from that. They got, Walmart is getting away from that. The last couple times we've been they've had four to six cashiers. Now you have to pay to use the self checkout. There's a membership. You have to pay for the self checkout, or you have to go through because people were stealing stuff. Oh yeah, you're right, and now they're looking like with Sam's has this thing where you can just push your cart through and your your credit card is attached to your card, so when you push it through the scanner, it just bills you automatically for everything you got. Wow. And I think Walmart is eventually going to go to that system too well.
Jason
That way you minimize a theft and stuff like that. They say SNAP benefits make up about 8% of all retail spending on groceries. Even a short interruption of this spending could lead to layoffs or other painful adjustments in this sector. I'm reading a I'm looking at a Newsweek article on this whole issue with Walmart and snap, they said Walmart alone accounts for almost one quarter. This is at about 25 billion, and snap spending accounts for more than 8% of their grocery sales. So yeah, this is going to be say Walmart, whose revenue Rose 5% to 681 billion in its most recent fiscal year, captures 24% of SNAP shoppers, shopper spending, followed by Kroger, 8% Costco, 6% Amazon, 5% and Walmart's own, Sam's Club, 4%
Ian
Oh, yeah. So capitalize on that, Costco, I'm not surprised
Stoney
about Yeah, well, but I mean, think about it. You know, the Costco and Walmart are Democrat run businesses. Yeah, these are liberal businesses, and they're, it's kind of like the whole thing when they started, you know, hating on Elon Musk, and I'm sorry you're the one who made him rich with by, you know, the electric vehicles and everything. And. You want to key the cars and burn them and go after the dealerships, they're actually hurting the very companies that are run by the Liberals trying to support you. That's irony in its best Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous, if you think about it.
Jason
I don't mean some of this stuff. As I said, this is unfortunate. This is all because of politics. Oh yeah, just some things I'm reading here. Of you know, kind of, they kind of give you what people are saying the USDA and a notice on its website. Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued. November 1, we are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats that can continue to hold out for health care for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies and the most vulnerable among us can receive, receive critical nutrition assistance. Jennifer Hatcher, She's the Chief Public Policy Officer at the Food Marketing Institute in a statement, on October 21 now is the time for Congress to end the government shutdown to ensure that our most vulnerable Americans continue to have access to the food they need to feed their families through SNAP. And I see here in an economist, Ishmael Martinez told Newsweek, said more than 40 million people rely on SNAP benefits to help them access essential and healthy foods. It's more important than ever, as food insecurity is higher today than it has ever been before. The pandemic, the share of families with children 17.9% who experience food insecurity has continued to rise consistently since 2021 SNAP benefits help a lot these families avoid poverty. Just last year, snap kept more than 3.5 million people out of poverty, including more than 1.4 million children. Even a brief interruption of benefits will push all these economically vulnerable families and children into greater hardship during a time of rising food and economic insecurity. You
Stoney
know, I think it's funny. We talked a little bit earlier about Louisiana putting in almost 140 million we had, what did I say? 750,000 people on SNAP. The governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency, which will help him move some funds. They have 850,000 residents in Virginia that are impacted by snap. Governor Gavin Newsom has 5.5 million people on SNAP, and he is dedicating 80 million in Food Bank support. Think about that, and he wants to run our government
Jason
really, I really think.
Stoney
But they got to be preparing for a major California has to be preparing for a major fallback scenario. Tell
Jason
you what and hunger will make you do things that you think you would do. Talk about breakdown in social order quick. People go hungry. Make it run on stores. I mean, it's can get it can get ugly. I mean, it can really get ugly quick. I know kind
Ian
of big inner city area that's gonna be a
Stoney
it's gonna get ugly. Oh yeah, it's gonna get ugly. Or could get, could get ugly. I should say, let me rephrase. Is
Ian
there still a potential for them to make a decision before November 1? Or are we at the point where, well,
Jason
get to a point they eventually things just run out. I mean, because, because we got to, I mean, the the subsidies expire at the end of the end of December,
Stoney
yeah, well, that's for the immigrant. Well, the Obamacare subsidies, which is kind of funding,
Jason
I will posture it this way. I'm not saying Obamacare, is it? Yes, there is that illegal component, and that's unfortunately, if, it was strictly for just American citizens to get that, I think there wouldn't be an issue. But the problem is, within all that, there's a lot of things there's ripe for abuse and is going to people it shouldn't be going to as I said, I've had my head bit off for a few people have have reached out to me about one of my comments on a post I responded to one time. Just made a comment on about that, and they were, you know, explaining about how bad, you know, their family couldn't afford insurance, and they use ACA and, you know, and I get it so. So, I mean, it's, it's just unfortunate that the original intent of these programs are kind of being abused, and that's unfortunately what it's led some people to kind of throw up their hands, because there are a lot of people that were against Obamacare that basically said it ruined stop. So some people say it was bad, some people say it was good. I really don't know. I haven't done enough reading on health care to know the the intricate details of the ACA and and all that so but unfortunately, I think they're just some other issues going on with that that's kind of leading people to believe the way they do. They say, right now, I'm looking at what some other states are doing right now to kind of mitigate this disaster. You know, Stoney mentioned Virginia, Colorado is considering a ballot measure to tax high income earners to fund school meals and potentially snap
Ian
so tax the rich,
Jason
you know, like other states. So, you know, Stoney mentioned Virginia and California and New York. Yeah, they're trying to say we're going to use state funds to cover this stuff and but the USDA is basically we're not going to reimburse you, so you got to spend your own money.
Stoney
Yeah, they did say that,
Jason
like states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania have halted new snap applications or warned residents of delays. Some states are weighing major program cuts. North Carolina has warned it may have to end its SNAP program entirely if the state cannot cover in the newly mandated cost Alabama is considered ending, ending a simplified application process for older adults. Some states like Texas have already opted out of other federal food assistance programs such as summer EBT citing administrative burdens as a preview of potential future actions with snap.
Ian
So Texas doesn't have they don't they. They're
Jason
out of it really they, well, I'm gonna tell you that this, unfortunately, is the problem with a lot of these federal programs. It's always great upfront. You know, forests come in with a lot of money and say, Look, we get this program going. But you know, after a certain amount of time you're going to, you're going to start funding this. This is just a temporary deal, right? And unfortunately, what happens? Well, you know, I know that our previous governor, Governor John Bel Edwards, basically, when he got elected, expanded Medicaid. He took the federal money, and unfortunately, that hooks the state now on this long term. So Louisiana has had to adjust itself to to deal with this.
Stoney
So just like when Louisiana is under common law and our So, which one I forgot crap, yeah, common law and civil law. Which one is it? Yeah, right. And the federal government, every year, first day of the fiscal year, the federal government said you need to pass a law that says that you no longer are that type of a law, or we're going to hold our highway funds from you every year. That was the first day of the fiscal year. The Federal Government said, If you don't change this, we're going to hold our federal funds from you, and it's going to wind up being the same thing. Oh, yeah, you do what we want,
Ian
or no money. No money, Yep, yeah.
Jason
Right now they say states with the highest financial impact. Right now looks like Alaska is reported the highest error rate of any state in fiscal year, 24 nearly 25% this would result in the highest percentage increase in its snap budget California
Ian
project. Well, you're saying that Alaska has the highest, highest error rate, okay, which
Jason
is, you know, mentioned earlier about what's that's kind of one of those factors in the cost to the state I see now California's project, to face the largest total cost was 1.9 billion increase in in benefits and administrative costs. Oh, my goodness. Well,
Stoney
they got 5.5 billion people. Yeah, on on subsidy.
Jason
New York second highest at estimated 1.9 billion in
Ian
additional snap is these big cities. It's gonna hit hard. Florida
Jason
expected to pay 1.3 billion in extra costs. Texas projected pay 1 billion. Pennsylvania an additional 982 million.
Ian
And so the states have to find that money correct elsewhere in their budget. Right? Oh. In that's going to be tight, not like, not like, in a cool way, like, tight and like, they're going to have to be pinching pennies, is what I meant. Oh no, yikes.
Jason
I mean, it's they said, while the national average error rate was nearly 11% in fiscal year 24 far above the new 6% threshold, some states have much higher rates, and I mentioned Alaska have has prioritized in processing benefits, even with incomplete documentation,
Ian
which has led to a higher error rate. Okay, that was my next question. Yeah.
Jason
Other states with relatively high error rates in the 14 to 60% include Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oregon. So, hmm, so, yeah. So that's what I'm saying, yeah. So that it kind of so now that particular state has got to look at its budget that it can't deficit spin, which means it's got a it's got to balance his budget every year. Okay, where are you going to find additional money? Are we going to do this? Because that means, that means somebody else is getting money taken. Works, yep. So do you pull it from roads? Do you pull it from from health care? Do you pull it from all the other things, everything
Ian
else, everything else that has probably been begging for more money over the course of the past few years. That's gonna
Jason
not be fun, yeah? I mean, it's I don't,
Ian
yeah, hold on guys, while I just find a cool $1.5 billion laying around.
Jason
Dang. Yeah. Well, there is some controversy regarding calculating that that error rate right, they say the federal government's methodology for calculating snap error rates relies on a quality control system that involves both state and federal reviews of a sample of cases.
Stoney
Interesting, okay, when 40 million illegal immigrants the problem.
Jason
Hello, that is the problem system that is, well, I think if you didn't have this unmitigated disaster of immigration that's happened and overwhelm these states that deal with this stuff, this is, I mean, this is the result of that, yeah, it drives now, all these other things that you're you were talking about, I mean, so, I mean, I mean, he said the the snap QC system, is a four step process. There's a state review. Said, each month, state agencies review a sample of participating households, about 50,000 cases annually nationwide to confirm their eligibility and the accuracy of their benefit amount. This includes a review of household documentation and interviews. Then there's a federal re review. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service conducts an independent re review of a sub sample of the cases initially reviewed by the state, about 25,000 cases Okay, and then corrections. When an error is identified, whether is under payment or overpayment, the state corrects it overpaid benefits must be paid back by the household, and underpaid benefits are reimbursed. And then analysis the FNS and analyzes all the data collected and uses a statistical analysis to calculate the state specific payment error rates. Interesting. So that's how they're coming to that conclusion. Yeah, that's how they're getting that number.
Ian
I had no idea. So
Stoney
how about they take the 87,000 IRS agents that the Biden crime family armed and put in work and let them go after a few more of those, and get more of that done. Say you're not gonna work for the IRS anymore. You're going to work for health and hospitals. And let's, let's see what we can do about that,
Jason
so you could see where, how some of these states are dealing while these error rates are the way they are. Because, I mean, if you're dealing with a lot of illegals, or, you know, people that were claiming asylum and all these other things. We know it looks like the big, beautiful Bill part of that is going to change some of those rules, but prior to that, right this is kind of what's driving some of these numbers right now, is probably a lot of illegal immigration and people overwhelming
Stoney
our social service and our politicians not reporting a death of a grandparent or parent and claiming their benefits for another three to 10 years after that. Yes, AOC, we know, and I forgot the name of that other politician that didn't claim her grandmother for 11 years receiving benefits. The fits and cash in the checks. I need to remember what her name is, but I got the brain damage.
Jason
Do we have any statistics or anything on on kind of the age breakout of how they're viewing this whole issue?
Ian
No, I haven't looked at it. Be very curious
Jason
if there's anything how maybe Gen X views it versus boomers versus Millennials versus Gen Z, or even now,
Stoney
came up with a graph for it. Okay? The the boomers, you know, or they look at things through pride and purpose, proof of strength and responsibility. Then Gen X is looking at it with independence and skepticism, necessary evil and authenticity, millennials, anxiety and delusionment, evidence of failure and fairness. And Gen Z is anger and systematic injustice and expression, and then this, see if I can find that second part of that, where did that go?
Ian
To go back just a second, at least, from what I from what little bit of searching I did around representative Jasmine Crockett is the one that's it. It says Jasmine crocklett says she simply, quote, simply forgot to inform Social Security that her grandmother had died in 2012 and continued to
Jason
Oh, yeah, we forgot Yeah. Got it, yeah. Just keep collecting. It
Ian
wasn't 11 years. It was 13 years that she was collecting security from her grandmother.
Stoney
It was something like that, you're right. Hey, close enough. So the general generational contrast, from givers to system survivors to Silent Generation, they did food drives, work programs, mutual aid, boomers, responsibility and legacy. We fix what's broken. Phil and Philip philanthropy, church drives and civic duty, Gen X again, skepticism and independence. No one's coming to save us. Gen X, you know them guys are crazy anyway, strategic, self reliance and quiet giving Millennials delusioned idealism, the system has failed us, online activism, burnout and quiet, quitting and Gen Z is their radical individualism. The rules aren't always fair, disruption, public protest and moral fluidity. So there you go. It breaks it down just simply, weaker, weaker, weaker, weaker, weaker. Now we're in the weak man era, which is going to create hard times. We're in that time where these weak individuals are going to just destroy everything that was built.
Jason
And it's just, you know, I don't know. I mean, it's, it's, you know, part of me, you know, of course, I don't want people to go hungry, but no, I mean, we've got, I mean, I mean, something's got to give here, you know, either you got to, either got to change how much money is going out of the country and keep that money here to possibly fund some of these programs, right? Or you, basically, you kind of cut the line and let each state. You have to figure this out. I mean, I'm looking at here says, you know if they just basically do away with their SNAP programs, like, if, you know, if Mississippi ended their their SNAP program, and more than 350,000 people now are in the hole in Michigan, that number rises to 1.4 7 million. But
Ian
I see this is where my, my pessimistic side comes in. How many of those people are actually like, like, working age adults that can like, that's
Jason
where I think that's where I get a little cynical. How many of the numbers exactly are people they come up with that like,
Ian
of those 300,000 people, how many of those are, like, unable to work and, like, really need the benefits like, or are in like, a certain like, poor, you know, circumstance or whatever, unfit to work or disability or whatever it may be. Insert there. How many of those, like, 300,000 like, are actually, like, healthy, working age adults that could hold a job but choose not to. That's all.
Stoney
It sounds like Ian is falling right into my statement for many, many years, and I've said it on this show, if you're not a liberal when you're 18, it means you have no heart. If you're not a conservative when you're 40, it means you have no brain. And it sounds like Ian sliding but wait, wait, I never could be working. How are we gonna pay for
Jason
this? I think anybody, I think anybody that, as time goes on and you, you get into the world and you get a job and you work, and you say how much of your paycheck goes away that you never see.
Stoney
See, in a country that was started over a half cent tax on a breakfast beverage and and not to interrupt you,
Jason
but you've got and you've got politicians wanting to take more and more and more and more from me. So yeah. I mean, the only people that are for that are people who are not working.
Ian
The sad part is they aren't the sad part for me came like I had that revelation whenever I was 18, and I worked at a big wholesale store, and I was watching people that, like, had buggies, like, full of, like, food and, like, not paying a single cent for it, and I was like, oh so, like, where does that money come from? And someone told me, it's like, oh, that's that gets taken out of, like, your check. That's part of, like, the taxes you pay. And I was like, oh so, like, that person that could work, that is not working, is taking my taxpayer money to go.
Stoney
Fingernails done. Oh yeah, hair done, and a brand new iPhone.
Ian
Well, at the time of 2018 I was 18, 2000 whatever that would be, they
Stoney
had the latest, greatest, whatever it was. They had whatever it was. They had it.
Ian
I had that reality check. And I was like, Oh, I see why people are upset about this back then. And now, here I am, gosh,
Stoney
you know, and I tell say this a lot, I'm a I'm a fiscal conservative with liberal tendencies, right? Okay, I know there's a lot of people out there who need help. I mean, look what happened to me two and a half years ago. Yeah, exactly. Hello. I meant, there's people out there who truly need help. You just need to tell me how we're gonna pay for it and how we're truly going to reach the people that need help, not the ones sitting on their butts, having nine kids with different daddies and and there's no accountability. I think personally, you have nine kids, you should have to name who the fathers are so that they can be counseled on child support, or you can't receive benefits because this that was the way of the world for how long more kids means more money? Oh, yeah, and that's got to stop if you're not going to be accountable, why do we have to be accountable for you look at all the videos on there. It's a taxpayer's responsibility to feed my children. No, no. It's not my responsibility. It's your responsibility. If you can't provide for those kids don't have them. But
Ian
that's the things Tony, just like we stated at the closer to the beginning of this episode, once you, once you get something, and you continue to get it, it becomes entitlement. Entitlement. It's been, it's been, probably,
Stoney
and that's one of my biggest things with with the the Liberal Democrats with the entitlement of Social Security. Social Security is not an entitlement we paid into that. You paid into it. Oh, yeah. Jason paid into it. I paid into it. The hottie Doctor paid into it. That's not an entitlement, yeah, but they want to designate it that so they can keep robbing it to, you know, money launder and send it to their, you know, their Biden crime, family, individuals,
Jason
yeah, they said right now, only eight states meet the federal snap eight accuracy standards. Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming, interesting, meet the 6% threshold as per the report. And I'm tell you what's going on. There's a lot of these states that are so far out, which means there's probably a lot of overpayments and and basically, that's why the federal government's like, Y'all gotta clean your house and yeah, and do better job of trying to get this right, instead of just simply doing whatever you want to do, and just go, oh, well, you know, working it out. Yeah, we're working it out. You know how that goes? Politics involved with that, and vote for me, and, you know, I'll do this for you. And blah, blah, blah, so I don't know, yeah, yeah, this is
Ian
a crazy situation. And at the time of recording this episode, obviously it isn't November 1 yet for us. But by the time you it will be the day, well, you all at home, it will be the third, which is the day of reckoning, apparently, Oh, you're right. You're right, right. Everything, I think all the effects take place, hopefully the first. So I guess we'll find out if that's
Stoney
going to be well, that's when everything stops, okay? But the point of the show was the Walmart thing, saying that all the people were coming in on that, that Monday and just robbing and looting and doing everything they could be very
Jason
curious. Can anybody look up real quick, what is the percentage of people that would be willing to do that? You know, burn. Break into Walmarts and take whatever they want. I'm curious that there's a generational breakdown on how that's viewed. I'd be very curious to see that rapid rise in younger people be willing to just take stuff that they don't belong to them because they feel like it's entitled. I'm just curious if there would be any numbers on that. I
Ian
don't believe so, but I'll look and see, yeah, I don't think, I don't think I got anything beneficial here on that. There's a lot of media like perception versus the reality of that kind of stuff. But nothing that feels concrete is nothing crazy. And I'm I hope that by this time, I hope that by the release of this episode that, of course, obviously, the whole retail world
Stoney
isn't well when it releases, it'd be in the middle in time,
Ian
by the time you're listening, by the time everyone at home was listening to this, it'll be, I hope that the oh I'm saying is, I hope that the retail world's not in shambles by the time you play this episode. But I guess we'll, we'll find out all this and more next time, retrospect, but I'm curious to hear what everyone else has to say about this sort of situation we have, as per usual, we have comment sections on on Spotify and on YouTube where you can leave us your thoughts about this. Are you affected by this sort of situation? Is there someone in your family that's affected by this? I'm I'm curious, and if you need a longer form place to respond, we have the email address get offended together@gmail.com, or you can leave some more longer responses. If the comment section isn't allowing you, or you're hitting it, you're hitting the character limits, but until next week, thank you so much for listening. Bye,
Jason
bye, goodbye everyone, and God bless.
Stoney
maybe the real shutdown isn't happening in Washington. Maybe it's happening in us. When systems stop working, we get a mirror held up to who we've become. We see a nation that's grown comfortable with outsourcing compassion, resilience and responsibility. The lights may flicker in DC, but the question is, will the light stay on in our conscience? Hard times are coming, but they might be exactly what it takes to remind us of what strength really looks like. Thank you for hanging out with us today. You're the best. Peace.