Eric Swalwell slams GOPers’ plan to enforce work requirements for 'cancer patients on food stamps'

20 April 2023

United States Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) recently criticized his GOP colleagues — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — for their efforts to enforce work requirements for cancer patients who are recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Led by MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), GOP lawmakers "are increasing their push to establish new work requirements for millions of people who receive Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance," which many progressives consider "a cruel attack on the poor."

@Acyn shared a clip of the California Democrat's interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid, writing, "Swalwell: It's actually interesting that Kevin McCarthy wants to put in place work requirements for cancer patients who are on food stamps. If Kevin McCarthy or Marjorie Taylor Greene had to pass a work requirement.."

To finish Swalwell's sentence, the congressman emphasized, "If Kevin McCarthy or Marjorie Taylor Greene had to pass a work requirement, they wouldn't get paid."

The Washington Post reports the work requirement "debate in some ways resembles the Republican-led campaign against so-called welfare queens in the 1990s, when a politically resurgent GOP—then under the leadership of House Speaker Newt Gingrich—secured a dramatic restructuring of the government's social safety net," adding, "The resulting overhaul, enacted by President Bill Clinton, slashed cash benefits for millions of Americans in ways that GOP leaders now cite as a model."

In opposition to the Republicans, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) said, "SNAP recipients who can work, do work. Yet they do not earn enough to escape poverty. Taking away SNAP doesn't help anyone find work, it just makes them hungry and ensures the cycle of poverty continues."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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