The Dominoes of Stupidity: How Tariffs, Shutdowns, and SNAP Cuts Collapse the Whole Damn Economy
Michael “Doc” Studard
Let’s get something straight: you can’t choke the working class, gut social programs, and jack up tariffs without expecting the whole damn system to cough blood. Yet here we are — watching leaders play economic Jenga with the lives of millions of Americans, then act shocked when the tower collapses.
The Tariff Con
Raising tariffs isn’t some patriotic “America First” move. It’s a tax — not on China, not on Mexico, not on foreign corporations — but on you.
Every container that docks on our shores with higher import fees means your grocery bill, your utility costs, and your car payment just got a little heavier. Tariffs sound tough on TV, but in real life, they just mean inflation. The only people who don’t feel it are the ones who never had to decide between gas or groceries in the first place.
The Shutdown Game
Then comes the cherry on top: a government shutdown. A self-inflicted wound. A tantrum disguised as fiscal discipline.
When Washington “shuts down,” the lights don’t just flicker in D.C. — they go out in small towns across America. SNAP, WIC, housing assistance, veteran services — all frozen. Federal employees and contractors get IOUs instead of paychecks. The people who already hold this country together are told to hold their breath and wait.
Meanwhile, the ones causing it still collect their salaries and tweet about “fiscal responsibility” from steak dinners bought with donor money.
Killing SNAP, Killing the Economy
And now, let’s talk about the cruelest joke of all — suspending SNAP benefits.
Some folks like to sneer that “those people” should just get a job. Here’s the reality:
Over 42 million Americans rely on SNAP. Roughly 25% are elderly, 26% are disabled, and over 40% are children. These aren’t freeloaders — they’re people who can’t work, or who do work but still can’t afford to eat because wages haven’t kept up with corporate greed.
When those benefits stop, it’s not just poor families who feel it. Grocery stores lose sales. Truckers haul fewer loads. Warehouse workers get their hours cut. Cashiers, stockers, and store clerks — the same “essential workers” we applauded in 2020 — lose shifts.
Less food bought means less food ordered. Less food ordered means fewer deliveries. Fewer deliveries mean layoffs. It’s a straight pipeline from the dinner table to the unemployment line.
Trickle-Down Cruelty
The people pushing this nonsense love to talk about the “free market.” But the market doesn’t stay free when the government kneecaps its own citizens.
SNAP dollars don’t disappear into the void — they circulate fast. Every dollar in SNAP generates roughly $1.50 to $1.80 in local economic activity. When you pull that money out of the system, you’re not saving taxpayer funds — you’re starving your local economy.
The Great American Irony
We’re told we can’t afford to feed our people, but we can afford tax cuts for billionaires.
We can’t fund school lunches, but we can fund endless wars.
We can’t extend unemployment benefits, but we can bail out corporations who spend the savings on stock buybacks.
Then the same politicians who caused the crisis go on TV to blame “lazy Americans” or immigrants or whoever’s most convenient that day. They tell you to tighten your belt while they loosen theirs another notch over a $300 steak.
The Truth They Don’t Want to Admit
The economy isn’t just Wall Street tickers and corporate profits.
It’s truck drivers. It’s grocery clerks. It’s single moms. It’s retirees trying to stretch fixed incomes in a world where eggs cost six bucks and insulin’s still priced like liquid gold.
When you make it harder for those people to live, you make it harder for America to run.
Every time you raise tariffs, every time you shut down the government, every time you cut a safety net, you’re not punishing “the lazy.” You’re punishing the engine that keeps this country running. You’re sawing off the branch you’re sitting on.
Final Thought
This isn’t politics anymore — it’s cruelty disguised as policy.
You don’t “fix” an economy by strangling the people who feed it.
You don’t make America stronger by making Americans hungrier.
If our so-called leaders can’t see that, maybe it’s time we stop calling them leaders at all.
Tags:
#Economy #Politics #SNAP #Tariffs #GovernmentShutdown #Poverty #WorkingClass #FoodInsecurity #Opinion #MichaelRStudard
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