Government Shutdown Turning Into a National Crisis — SNAP Cuts, TSA Unpaid, Markets on Edge.mp4

In today's video, I want to give you a status update on the government shutdown. And you tell me, I don't know how to describe this, whether you would call this a fiasco or a circus or a catastrophe. I mean, you tell me. So let's start with the problems. One of the biggest problems, if not the biggest problem, is SNAP benefits. I mean, these were previously known as food stamps, will not have funding for November. 42 million Americans receive monthly SNAP benefits for food assistance. That's 12% of the U.S. population. So some states will partially fund the monthly payments, but other states will completely suspend the payments for the time being. It just depends on your state. Okay, so here's the situation. There's an argument that the USDA has the power to tap into contingency funds to cover the cost of the November benefits. However, the USDA is refusing to do so. Here's why. The USDA released a memo. They're saying that these contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits. Okay, then what is this money being reserved for then? It says in the memo, it's very clear, it says right there that it's intended for disasters. They give some examples. They include hurricanes, tornadoes, floods. Essentially, I mean, we're talking about natural disasters that come quickly and without notice. It says right there. The memo proceeds to say that this money needs to be reserved for situations where they need to mobilize quickly in response to disaster. Of course, I don't know if you agree with this or not, but that's the stance of the USDA. Now, I want you to take a look at this. The memo also says that if the USDA transfers money from other accounts to pay SNAP benefits, then it's going to pull away funding from other sources. And of course, they give examples. They're saying that it's going to take away money from nutrition programs for children, school meals, infant programs, etc. And then the memo proceeds to say that if states cover the cost of the benefits, the federal government will not reimburse the state. Again, some states are saying that they're going to take the hit and they're going to put up the money to partially fund it. Other states are saying that they're going to suspend the November payments until the shutdown resolves. And some states, they haven't even released an official statement yet. So again, it just depends on your state. But I want you to realize how big of a problem this is. I mean, look at this. Over the decades, the number of Americans receiving SNAP benefits have grown substantially. The official count for last year, so we're talking about 2024, was 42 million Americans. And here's a heat map of which state residents rely on SNAP benefits the most. Anyways, I'm guessing that most Americans didn't know this information and how big of a deal that this whole situation is. But here we are. Another big problem is that air traffic controllers are not getting paid. And listen, I just want to say this. I understand that this is a terrible transition of topics. Like we were just talking about how Americans are not going to be able to feed themselves. And now we're transitioning to, oh, my flight's going to be delayed. Like, oh my god, it's going to be the end of the world. But I want to say two things. So first, like, have you seen people flip out about delayed or canceled flights? Like, it can get pretty nasty. But the second more important reason is that this is going to be a real big pain point for the politicians in D.C. I mean, if they drop the ball with the airline industry, like, you know, flights in general, it's going to be very dramatic and it's going to be very problematic for the politicians, especially if they can't get this sorted out for holiday travel, you know, starting the week before Thanksgiving. And I just want you to be aware that it's not just about the air traffic controllers, because it's about TSA as well. TSA is required to show up to work, but right now they're not getting paid. So listen, I just want to say this. Earlier this week, I was going through Miami's International Airport. And when I was going through TSA, I told the agents, I appreciate you. Like, I appreciate you working during the shutdown because I knew I knew the situation. And then he told me, thank you. I appreciate that. Like, this guy was a gentleman. And I asked him, like, this is what I said to him. I said, out of curiosity, like, I know you guys are getting back pay, but like, this is not cool having your paycheck being delayed. Like, why don't you guys just strike? And then I'll tell you, he educated me because I didn't know this. He told me that it's illegal for them to strike. And then I fact checked him and it was true. Like, federal employees are prohibited from striking. Like, that's the law. And the law explicitly prevents TSA employees from striking because, well, he told me that it's, that's going to jeopardize national security. I looked it up and that's true. That's what it says. And you know what, he told me just straight up that anybody that strikes is going to get fired. And I just want to say that the government requiring people to work with a jeopardized paycheck or missed paychecks, like, that's not cool. But I'll tell you what, people in Miami are very nice. Another issue, which we actually covered earlier in this week, is that the Federal Reserve is not getting access to their needed data, the data that they're so dependent on. Like, oh, data dependent, data dependence. So the Federal Reserve has their next meeting on December 10th, but the government, they didn't release the jobs report in October. They're going to miss their November reports. And the government may not release the inflation reports in November. Now, I just want to remind people that in September, the Federal Reserve gave their forecast that they're going to cut interest rates in December at the December meeting. But now, because they were relying on the jobs report and the inflation report to make their decisions because they're being so data dependent, they said on Wednesday that they're not so sure about lowering the interest rate in December. So Jay Powell, who's a chair of the Federal Reserve, said that there was a strong disagreement among the committee members about what they're going to do in December because of the lack of government reports. They're on a foggy path. That's what he said. Okay, so before the government shutdown, there was a 93% chance that they were going to cut interest rates in December. But now the odds have fallen to 70%. And of course, that caused a scare in the stock market because the stock market was expecting more rate cuts like that to be a sure thing and an easier monetary policy come December. Besides the missing jobs report and the CPI inflation report, other reports have been affected as well. And take a look for yourself. Construction spending, factory orders, trade balance, jobless claims, retail sales, etc. Additionally, the US economy is going to get hurt by the shutdown. The CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, says that the shutdown has already cost the US economy $18 billion. The majority of federal employees are not working. And of course, they're going to receive back pay. But just think about it. It's a huge loss of productivity. People are being paid and no work is being done. I mean, this is where our tax dollars are going. Listen, I understand that if you're a federal employee, this sucks that you're not receiving a timely paycheck. Of course, that's a terrible thing. However, this is a big waste of taxpayer money. But you know what? I guess we could just add this to the list of how the government wastes our taxpayer dollars, right? But also, if people are not getting paid, then people are going to cut back on spending just naturally. And that has a chain reaction. One example I want to give is that my friend owns a donut shop next to a federal building. And the majority of the customers are federal employees. And of course, they're not at work. The majority of them are not. So his sales at his donut shop have plummeted. Now, he's freaking out. He's saying, Brian, when do you think the government's going to reopen? But I told my friend, I gave him my honest opinion. I said, give it a week or two. The government's going to reopen. I knew that it's going to drag out, but I'm betting that it's coming to a conclusion very soon. I'm saying that because there's just too many problems that are going to escalate very rapidly in this upcoming week. There's the Obamacare insurance enrollments opening up November 1st. Of course, the situation with 42 million Americans on SNAP, that problem's going to start November 1st. Trouble brewing at the airports. Federal employees missing paychecks. It's just going to be too much. That's just my opinion. And this has caused the senators to start talking again. But I want you to know that it is a circus in DC. Look at this. The Senate has voted on the government funding bill 13 times, and it keeps on failing because they just keep on voting on the same thing. The Republicans and Democrats, they were not negotiating. They weren't even talking before. And they brought up the same bill for a vote 13 times. And guess what? They kept getting the same results. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass it. They kept on getting 54 votes. But listen, if you're not going to talk, if you're not going to negotiate or change the bill, and you're going to keep voting on the same thing over and over again and again and again, and you're expecting a different result, what are you thinking? What are you doing? This is embarrassing. But again, the Republicans and Democrats, they're not talking again because of the mounting pressure. But as I told you in my previous video, I got my money on the shutdown being resolved by the end of November, most likely well before then. Anyways, that's the government shutdown situation. But just so you know, Congress is going back on vacation November 7th. I mean, I'm sure that's going to be motivation for them to get this resolved before then because, oh, that's the last thing that they're going to want to ruin their vacation, come back to DC to vote on this. But we'll see what happens. Please subscribe. I'll keep you updated on this whole situation. Thank you for the support. And I wish you a very nice day. Take care.