Articles Like This One Are Why the Government Remains Shut Down

The Washington Post’s editorial page has improved a lot in the past few months. Sadly, the paper’s reporters are mostly the same lot of left-wingers we’ve long come to expect. Today the paper published a story about people on SNAP benefits in Mike Johnson’s district in Louisiana. It’s headlined, “In MAGA stronghold, fury over SNAP but little blame for Trump in shutdown.” But the subhead really gives the game away, “House Speaker Mike Johnson’s congressional district has one of the highest SNAP usage rates in the country. Constituents wonder why he hasn’t used his power to help them, but many lay blame on Washington’s dysfunction.”

Gee, why hasn’t House Speaker Mike Johnson used his power in the House to force Democrats in the Senate to reopen the government? That’s a really great question if you don’t know the first thing about American civics. And the Post seems intent on not telling anyone either. [emphasis added]

Liz Hill has braced for the worst in the southern tip of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s district, working to stretch her disabled older brother’s food assistance benefits as the longest government shutdown in history pushes into a second month.

She drives two hours to a cheaper grocery store, armed with a fist full of coupons. She can’t remember the last time she cooked meat that wasn’t on sale…

She lays the blame for the uncertainty on Washington politics, but she is more reserved when talking about two of the most influential politicians at the center of the impasse:

“Mike Johnson and Trump — I like them. I like some of the things they’re doing now. I think they have good ideas. But I just think the fighting that’s going on with the government shutdown is ridiculous.”…

Johnson’s district — a reliably red slice of western Louisiana — has one of the highest usage rates of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the nation, with nearly 1 in 5 households here depending on benefits. But in interviews, several people who rely on SNAP and voted for Johnson and President Donald Trump did not fault the Republican leaders, even as Trump waited until payments were set to lapse for 42 million Americans before publicly pressuring the GOP to end the shutdown.

The setup here is about as partisan as it could possibly be. We’re not going to Chuck Schumer’s state of New York where there are 3 million people on SNAP. Instead, we’re going to the House speaker’s district to ask why powerful Republicans aren’t doing more.

If that weren’t enough, the authors describe Mike Johnson and Trump as two of the key figures. Not one of the Democrats in the Senate voting no to reopening the government gets a mention. Chuck Schumer is never mentioned. House minority leader Jeffries is never mentioned. Somehow this is all on Trump and House Speaker Johnson.

The authors then fault Trump for waiting too long to pressure Republicans, because of course the delay is Republicans fault. Again, forget the dozens of Senate Dems who are keeping the government closed with their votes. The authors don’t feel the need to mention them. The Post doesn’t try to inject any light into this situation at all, but we do get a reference to a poll about who Americans blame.

Americans are divided over whom to blame for the government closure and its cascading impacts, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released last week, but more U.S. adults fault Republicans than Democrats. More than 4 in 10 — 45 percent — say Trump and the GOP are mainly responsible.

Are Trump and the GOP responsible? No. They didn’t plot this strategy for a month in advance, Democrats did. Democrats literally said they were counting on polls showing people would blame the GOP. And here’s the Post eager to back them up. It’s biased articles like this one that explain, in part, why so many Americans blame the GOP for the Democrats’ shutdown. Lying has measurable consequences. The Post is content to hold up the poll rather than talk about the facts. And their willingness to play these games is why Democrats feel no pressure to end this shutdown, already the longest in history. So long as the media are lying for them, why not keep going? Just listen to this partisan dumpster fire:

In MAGA strongholds, loyalty to Trump and his GOP has helped the president elude political consequences for felony convictions and impeachments. Now many of his supporters have extended similar grace during a government shutdown that is emptying the pantries and refrigerators of the most vulnerable Americans.

Will Trump get away with it this time? That’s the message here, as if this was all flowing from his decisions, not the Democrats who plotted this out weeks in advance.

Halfway through Mike Johnson does get to say that, “Republicans in Congress have supported a funding bill 15 separate times to ensure nutritional assistance is fully funded” but this is brushed aside as old news by the authors. 

The votes to shutter the government somehow aren’t relevant. All that matters is that people in Mike Johnson’s district are in need and the authors have made it very clear who is to blame for that and who is not.

“We already have less resources to feed more people,” said Lindsay Hendrix, chief impact officer for Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. “Our neighbors are panicked about losing SNAP. A lot of them have already run out of SNAP benefits. Our partners are running out of food.” Her organization is preparing volunteers for long, tense lines full of hungry people with few places to turn.

Honestly, if you told me staffers in Chuck Schumer’s office had written this entire thing I would not be surprised. It’s an in-kind gift to Democrats and was always intended to be that by its very design.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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