THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

The Trump administration, consisting mainly of overfed people of little moral or ethical character, still wants to slash and burn the SNAP program because some rich person might have to pay for it.

A lot more people could have to meet work requirements for food aid under a Trump administration plan unveiled early Thursday, even as the president later in the day is expected to sign legislation that’s supposed to keep the current food aid eligibility system largely in place.

The proposed administration limits will have a significant impact in California, where in the application period lasting from September to August 2019 55 of 58 counties qualified for federal exemptions from work rules. That allowed officials to give the food assistance to more people.

People granted the exemptions could receive food aid for more than three months in a three-year period even if they didn’t meet the 20-hour work requirement. Under the new administration proposal, far fewer people would be granted that exemption.

Thursday, President Donald Trump plans to sign the farm bill, passed by Congress last week after months of painstaking negotiations. Earlier in the day, thanks to loose language in the law, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue proposed new requirements that would severely limit which parts of the country qualified for those exemptions.

He estimated his plan would cut the amount of able-bodied people who receive food assistance without meeting work requirements by 75 percent nationwide and save $15 billion over 10 years.

There are typically 90-day comment periods on proposed rules before they can be finalized.

“President Trump ordered me to propose regulatory reforms to ensure those able to work do so in exchange for their benefit,” Perdue said, citing a booming economy and low unemployment as reasons for the change.

Able-bodied adults under age 50 without young dependent children are currently required to work or go through work training for at least 20 hours per week to receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, for more than three months over a three-year period.

There are certain exceptions to that rule. If a county or state has an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent or 20 percent above the national rate for a two-year period, officials can exempt recipients from meeting the work requirements in order to receive their benefits for more than three months.

A classic Republican move to afflict the afflicted so they can comfort the comfortable. And it is suck a nice tough that an overstuffed fat ass like Sonny Perdue gets to propose this shit.