But we can say Merry Christmas again

From The New York Times:

The Trump administration, brushing aside tens of thousands of protest letters, gave final approval on Wednesday to a rule that will remove nearly 700,000 people from the federal food-stamp program by strictly enforcing federal work requirements. The rule, which was proposed by the Department of Agriculture in February, would make states enforce work requirements for able-bodied adults without children that governors have routinely been allowed to waive, especially for areas in economic distress. The economy has improved under the Trump administration, the department argued, and assistance to unemployed, able-bodied adults was no longer necessary in a strong job market.

“Government can be a powerful force for good, but government dependency has never been the American dream,” Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, said. “We need to encourage people by giving them a helping hand but not allowing it to become an indefinitely giving hand.”

Let us be clear. There was not a single Republican candidate in 2016 who would not have signed this order, and who would not have used the same excuse that Perdue did. Hell, it was central to the entire public career of Paul Ryan, who used to be the GOP’s go-to guy on budget matters, and someone who regularly maunders about his devotion to the poor.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.