Schatz: Trump Administration Has Enough Money For Argentina, A New Golden Toilet In The White House, But Nothing To Feed Hungry Families

WASHINGTON - Speaking at this afternoon's Senate Democratic leadership press conference, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) called on President Trump to comply with court orders and fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that nearly 42 million Americans rely on, including more than 160,000 people in Hawai'i.

"There's enough money for a golden toilet. There's enough money for $40 billion for right-wing government in Argentina. There is enough money for a new aircraft for the Secretary of Homeland Security, which is totally unnecessary. There is enough money in the United States of America. What they have decided to do is to withhold it from regular people," said Senator Schatz.

A transcript of Senator Schatz's remarks can be found below. Video is available here.

Everything's more expensive - electricity, food, health care. And that is not a natural consequence of the economic cycle. Those are intentional policies by the Trump administration. And there is enough money. There's enough money for a golden toilet. There's enough money for $40 billion for right-wing government in Argentina. There is enough money for a new aircraft for the Secretary of Homeland Security, which is totally unnecessary. There is enough money in the United States of America. What they have decided to do is to withhold it from regular people. And as it relates to SNAP, in particular.

Don't mistake what's happening. Don't allow these gilded walls to confuse you. This is exactly what it looks like. The Trump administration is going out of its way to make sure people don't have enough to eat, and they really are using hunger as a political weapon. It does sound crazy to say, but this is a new low.

It is absolutely within the president's authority to make sure everybody gets fed. But what they are arguing is that even though they have the flexibility to provide $40 billion to a right-wing government in Argentina, even though they have the flexibility to purchase a new luxury aircraft, even though they have the flexibility to buy a golden toilet, the one thing they're going to be very uptight about - the one thing that there's not enough money for right now is to feed hungry children.

And that is the story of the Trump presidency. If you are wealthy or you know somebody who knows somebody in the Trump administration, you are doing great. There is lots of wealth sloshing around in the public sector and in the private sector. It's not a scarcity of money. It is a decision that they have made to withhold what people need in order to generate political leverage against their adversaries.

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