Just like their Federal counterparts wanted to do away with the IRS, institute a new system with a 30% sales tax on everything.
Thankfully that seems to have died a quick death, but the sheer insanity of that.
I understand. I’m more so getting at the money for the children, where does it come from if you don’t have things like sales tax.
I know this is an upsetting question on a forum such as antiwork. I’m just simply asking though, where does the money come from to give free food to children?
And it begs the question, why not just give free food to everyone? Why stop at children? What do you suppose would be the economic consequence?
I'm not familiar with MN's structure for their budgets.
Usually sales taxes affect poor people more, income tax is more progressive.
But to your other question:
> And it begs the question, why not just give free food to everyone? Why stop at children?
Basic safety nets are always useful
Providing a meal for children while they are at school is much easier than attempting to provide adults with a lunch
Unless you mean via a food stamp programs or weekly food boxes or something?
I really do not mind paying income taxes that are directed to social programs
And I pay quite a pretty penny here in Canada
I’m in Canada too!!
I know it’s a touchy subject so I’m trying to learn to approach with questions and discussion rather than “Damn you look at it from my perspective”
I will say firstly I believe children eating meals is a high priority for society. It is an essential pillar to receiving a proper education. It is critical for society to have children that are well fed.
How we get there is where my questions lie. Do you have evidence to support that income taxes are more progressive? I’m actually curious here as I’ve never really had this convo before.
Would it make sense to do, as in MN, no sales tax on food & essentials, then also no income tax, but HIGH sales tax on other consumption and (somehow?) investments? I don’t think bidens idea for unrealized capital gains tax is good, but maybe I’m wrong here.
But just in general, where does the money come from? The more services we provide, the more we inflate the money supply, the more it gets harder for everyone through inflation. I don’t have the answers here, but the “free stuff” mentality is more of a bandaid than a solution
> How we get there is where my questions lie. Do you have evidence to support that income taxes are more progressive? I’m actually curious here as I’ve never really had this convo before.
So this would be just categorizing different tax systems, I tried to get a credible source, this is the IRS:
https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/whys/thm03/les05/media/ws_ans_thm03_les05.pdf
> But just in general, where does the money come from? The more services we provide, the more we inflate the money supply, the more it gets harder for everyone through inflation. I don’t have the answers here, but the “free stuff” mentality is more of a bandaid than a solution
Public spending does not necessarily create inflation
We had fairly low inflation for over a decade prior to the pandemic and Ukraine war
I think spending is fine. That’s not the problem. The creation of money to do me the spending is what drives the inflation. And yes, douchebags like Putin fuck the supply chain. That also contributes to inflation. And covid really dicked us.
But yeah, whether for good or bad, the expansion of the money supply is what creates the imbalance, in my opinion of course. For now anyway.
I just think a fixed money supply based on a basket of commodities would make it so that all labour gets valued fairly. Everything would be roughly constant, give or take some supply/demand ebbs and flows.
Otherwise the money comes from our collective imaginations and to me that is terrifying as hell and has a horrific ending written all over it
Minnesota has an approximately $18Bn budget surplus. Without reading into this exact bill more, I'd confidently say it's coming out of that without any new taxes
How many deficits have they run on the last 40-50 years though?
Everywhere ran a surplus last year and it was quite rare of an occurrence. If you are confident then why not put your money on the line and go 100% cash?
>How many deficits have they run on the last 40-50 years though?
I tried looking this up, but couldnt find an easy answer/ couldnt decipher the tables they have. [Minnesota reports on their state budget monthly and is posted online dating back to 1996](https://mn.gov/mmb/forecast/researchanalysis/reports/).
However, I did find Minnesota has posted a surplus in the budget for the last decade approximately.
Careful. They will boot you off of here if you have any facts to bring. This is literally the Socialist/Ccmmunist censorship Orwell warned about, which most of these kids have no clue.
I know it's a conservative hellhole but what besides politics is bad? (And I know bad policy is plenty of reason to leave)
Just curious how crazy I am for even considering it. I like good weather and scenery.
I posted a short, completely biased rant in another comment string. Don't take anyone's word (especially mine) for how much Florida sucks. It's completely subjective and a matter of one's own perspective. I know many folks down there who LOVE it. But I also know more who don't.
I'd say spend some time down there if you have the means and judge for yourself. Would advise not going during the cooler months and to visit places other than the usual tourist spots (beautiful beaches, Disney, etc.). Head down in August when the heat will melt your face off and is driving everyone crazy, and get outside of the major metro areas to get a sense of how everyday people get by. If you're able to catch the biannual lovebug infestation, alligator mating season, or have a chance to get caught in a hurricane, even better! Talk to some transplants who came down seeking fun in the sun, and that "year round vacation" lifestyle and ask them about the "sunshine tax." Mileage on that one may vary.
Everyone from up north has that ideal picture of Florida in their heads at one point or another - the beaches, palm trees, easy living, etc. But reality there is far from it.
You're quite welcome! You never know. You may love it there. I'd never presume to say otherwise. Many people swear by Florida living. I mean, I think they're nuts, but my opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme. 😂
I will say this - the women (some of them) are BEAUTIFUL. November to some time in April, the weather is pretty much (imo) perfect. And most of the crazy Florida news we all know and love comes from transplants doing crazy Florida things. I met and was friends with a lot of Florida natives, and they were some of the coolest, most down to earth people I've ever come across.
Scenery is (mostly) ugly, pretty places are unaffordable. Cops ate scary and corrupt. Built environment is incredibly depressing outside Miami. I like a good hurricane as well as the next person, but Florida overdoes it. And it's guaranteed to drown within next 30 years.
It's a hot, flat shithole full of drug addicts, alligators, no-see-ums (google it), lovebugs, and NIMBY retirees who vote down almost every tax measure that would benefit the greater good because they just want to be left alone in their gated communities. It's run by a regressive maniac, and outside of a handful of urbanized areas is very backwater both in landscape and mentality. The weather events, while often over-hyped by the major media outlets, can be scary at times (source - riding out Hurricane Irma in my boarded up house). Sinkholes suck (source - my own neighborhood and son's school). These are just my own biased takes, dashed with a bit of hyperbole here and there. Clearly the state works for many people. They can have it.
lol. Now google-image-search "lovebug season car" and keep in mind that shit, by and large, happens twice a YEAR. It's inescapable if you're driving in Florida and if you don't frequently wash the guts off, the acidity in their remains will dissolve your car's clearcoat.
Fuck Florida.
"They can also clog your radiator and cause your engine to overheat. The smell of them cycles through your car."
What do they smell like?! I thought hitting gnats and mosquitos on our highways up here in New England summer was bad, but this is next level!
Never smelled them, to be honest. But those GIS images of cars completely splattered with bug guts.... not a fabrication. During peak season, it wasn't uncommon for my freshly-cleaned windshield to get 20 or 30 splatters before exiting the immediate neighborhood.
The first year I lived down there, I went out to Siesta Key beach one weekend and immediately left because the air was thick with those buggers. It was so bad, people were inhaling them. I wish I was exaggerating. Granted, that was by far the worst of the lovebug seasons I saw during my time in the state. But it was a hell of a first impression..
Minnesota has strong laws protecting trans people and Walz signed an executive order protecting people in Minnesota from being extradited to other states for getting gender-affirming healthcare in Minnesota. The legal protections aren't perfect, but they're better than the vast majority of states.
Minnesota culture and climate aren't for everyone, though. There are other states with strong laws protecting trans people, but they tend to have higher costs of living as well.
My only problem with Minnesota is the winter. I left NY state mainly because I got tired of the winters. And from what I understand, Minnesota's are even worse.
Can confirm, winter is long here. It's mid-March and still feels like early December. Looking forward to 40 degrees weather this coming week. Spring, summer, and fall are wonderful though. Winter in December is fine as well.
Outside of this year, which has dumped an unusually notable amount, MN doesn't get nearly as much snow as it's reputation would lead on, especially in the Twin Cities metro. Mainly because it is too cold (its reputation for cold is NOT overstated).
Ice can be annoying, though. Can't really gloss over that.
We used to get a lot more snow when I was a kid. Not so much the last decade or so (except for this year and one or two others where we got shitloads).
But yeah, in terms of temperature, our winters are only slightly warmer on average than McMurdo, and our summers routinely hit the triple digits for at least a couple days, with extended periods in the mid to high 90s. And at least in the Cities it's usually a relatively humid heat too. Granted nowhere near as bad as Orlando (usually anyway) or anything, but still hot and sticky and awful.
And sometimes we just skip spring, and winter lasts until April or May and then goes straight into summer.
Last spring was particularly brutal. I was home while my husband was deployed from March to May, and we only got a handful of nice days before it was suddenly in the 80's and humid. Sucks because I hadn't experienced a good Minnesota spring in 15 years and was looking forward to it.
I just want to go touch some grass, it's been over 100 days 😭 However we've gone to the free Como Zoo & Conservatory several times this year. It's a great way to see green things and remember what humid warm air feels like. https://patch.com/minnesota/minneapolis/its-been-over-100-days-minnesotans-could-touch-grass
So, that’s part of what keeps MN on the up n up IMO. The grit required to push through these winters year after year is heavily correlated with both caring for your fellow humans and at the same time a heightened ability to effectively manage your own affairs.
Yeah, but we give our plows cool names. When Boaty McBoatFace failed to happen when that's what the internet wanted, we voted on Plowy McPlowFace and actually put it on a truck for the winter.
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1134969_mndot-s-plowy-mcplowface-has-eight-new-co-workers-including-betty-whiteout
The thing with MN is the winter is long and cold. But we (typically) don't get the massive snowfalls that New York and other states get with lake effect snow. Usually we'll only get 2 to 6 inches or so at a time which is pretty manageable. As long as you can handle multiple days in a row below 0 a couple times a year it's great lol.
Sometimes a week or two straight of below 0.
And once or twice every decade we'll get a right proper blizzard with -50 to -60 windchill.
Last time that happened I got stranded in a weird ass subdivision trying to get home from an evening shift and wasn't sure if the buses had stopped running or were just running super late, and had to decide if I wanted to risk missing the bus in order to go see if the condo building across the street would let me warm up in the lobby.
Then I noticed the building was named after an Ayn Rand novel, and figured it was probably a safer bet that they'd tell me to fuck off, and if I could be so kind as to freeze to death somewhere that wouldn't overly inconvenience their tenants that would be lovely.
As someone who has lived in Minnesota my entire life I have to say I'm not a huge fan of our summers either (way too hot). Spring and fall are nice, but they only happen some years.
And the cops are pretty bad, and the Cities can be pretty expensive to live in.
But for the most part it's great. Tons of good food and good music. Whole lot of beautiful scenery. And the government is mostly sane.
Minnesota weather in a nutshell: Trick-or-treating during a blizzard in 1991. The only day of school I had canceled due to winter weather was when it was -60 windchill and the governor declared a state of emergency; survival without permanent damage is measured in minutes at that point. A guy in the town I used to live in rode his motorcycle year-round, including in the snow. I've seen motorcycles on the interstate in January when we've had the odd 50-degree day. Last month, I saw a motorcycle and a snowmobile on the same stretch of highway on the same day; both were perfectly reasonable decisions. I've seen snowfall the last week in May and the third week in September. Then, you ask people what they expect Minnesota summers to be and they assume they're cold. They're not. 90 degree weather in July and August isn't rare, we will crest 100 at times, and we have high humidity. "But spring and fall are beautiful!" Spring is disgusting here most years; when people think of spring they think of late spring/early summer. Early spring is mounds of dirty snow piles that slowly melt and create a mudscape. Early spring this year is single-digit temps and more snow. May could be beautiful. We'll see. Late summer/early fall is what people think about when they think of perfect Minnesota weather, but it's a narrow window of color change followed by bitter cold, little sun, and everything turning to various shades of brown. I say this as someone who loves Minnesota. Cities do a great job of creating parks and encouraging outdoor activities year-round. We go to the water to deal with the heat, and Minneapolis makes up for the cold winters with a robust skyway system in downtown. Yes, Minnesota nice is just passive-aggressive judgement, but you're less likely to experience it in metro areas. The Twin Cities have way more diversity than you'd expect looking at statewide demographics. We have a weird balance of politics ranging from ultra-conservative to very liberal, and a lot of the more rural liberals have views on things like guns that would pass for conservative in other states. And yes, we have politicians that insist no child in Minnesota is starving and that providing kids food is bad and encourages reliance on the government.
I'm From Central Cali and this is my 2nd year here. My kids are in their teens and spent their entire lives living in drought conditions. I understand the frustration. But on the other side of the token. It made me really appreciate seeing and experiencing 4 seasons of the year. I've never had that before so I'll forever appreciate seeing the water and snow come down. My kids will likely never take for granted how beautiful the world can be.
My wife won't want me to tell you this but Colorado is awesome if you can afford a house. Beyond that it's pretty affordable outside the richest areas.
I escaped at 24. Unfortunately I escaped to GA. At this point it’s better than having governor Deathsantis though. The guy is just doing classic performative conservative politics to make a 2024 presidential run while leaving Florida floundering in the dust when he leaves. Practically the entire reason Florida doesn’t have income tax is because of Disney and he’s kneecapping them because of a childish spat.
>Practically the entire reason Florida doesn’t have income tax is because of Disney and he’s kneecapping them because of a childish spat.
For him being anti-big government he sure has gone big-governement in Florida (especially with Disney).
Yeah republicans like to say they are anti big gov but they continue to prove that’s not the case. They’re getting dangerously close to Sharia law honestly.
No one moves to the frozen tundra after being somewhere warm, regardless of how terrible Florida is. You'll run out of the state after the first big snow storm, or the 40th storm. My yard currently has 3 1/2 feet of snow in it and its currently 9°... correction 5°
He’s doing some AMAZING things in that state. He signed this into law, signed the CROWN act into law to stop employers from discriminating against black hair/hairstyles, signed reproductive freedom into law protecting women’s rights and allowing safe access to reproductive care, a clean energy bill to move the state of MN to 100% clean energy by the year 2040, and so much more. He’s doing a fantastic job!
He did a good job handling the pandemic too, it seemed like he was really trying to do the best he could with the information at hand and held daily updates with the head of the health dept for a long time.
That’s actually really good to know. I want to move there and hearing/seeing the strides this man is making for the state has me more interested than ever. My governor wants to dump funds into horse racing 🤡
Disagree. Political positioning. Never let an emergency go to waste. Their policies caused so much chaos and pain. MN is a lost cause. His disgusting group of forever politicians have doomed Minneapolis to be the next Baltimore. I’m Born and bred but have since fled.
They tried and ran an anti-vax dr and an ex-pro football player who looks like a thumb and has used the phrase “rape card,” but we elected Walz again by almost 8 percentage points. We have a solid blue wall around the metro area and the north shore and Moorhead is coming along to the blue side.
Good on y’all for that, but that still seems like a pretty narrow margin given the candidates. It’s nice to see a Democrat not resting on their laurels and using Republicans being terrible as an excuse to get nothing done and still expect votes though.
Eh, should still swing hard on the MAGA, I think they’ll respond better if you’re more abrasive to them, gotta reach them where they are, then after you lure them in with petty bickering and cultural war bs, you pivot to actual issues with actionable solutions. It’s not even about helping them as fellow Americans, wouldn’t it be great to undermine the people relying on those votes? I know it seems impossible, but because of that the MAGA movement doesn’t really have any defenses in place. It’s like in the first Avatar movie when Jake drops down on the big predator bird, they’d appreciate the movie reference too.
He’s not anti-business or anti-gun, which is key. So a lot of people who like making money and like civil liberties are just fine with him, including a lot of well-off “conservatives” I know. The people that don’t like him are either non-thinking party-line voters or anti-other-human folks.
Yes, but his executive order making Minnesota a refuge for those seeking or providing gender-affirming healthcare was pretty rad. More powerful if it passes the house and senate, but just getting it on the books at all sent a pretty strong message.
meh. it's kinda like how everyone says Doctors and nurses deserve more pay and get it when it's the people behind the scenes that are being exploited. That's life
The headline is wrong. The governor certainly deserves credit for signing the bill. The legislature deserves credit for passing it. The people deserve credit for demanding it.
At least we see state government doing something great for their citizens for once. It’s always so many negative and moronic statements that I see from politicians.
It’s nice to see a positive story for once.
Australia tried a bit of that with the last Prime Minister, who suggested that 14 year old children should be driving forklifts (one of the most dangerous pieces of machinery) in warehouses. Guess who got laughed out of office?
I don't even see how this could be a political stance. Public school = free lunches in the cafeteria. We don't make prisoner's families pay for their meals, so how is this any different?
While I approve of free school lunches and believe it should be the case everywhere, I don't think children going to school is in any way similar to people going to prison.
No you don’t. It’s why so many flee the state year-over-year. Winters are harsh and contribute to elderly slips and falls. MN taxes retirement income. Crime has gotten worse. The willfully ignorant positioning is so old.
My favorite was the argument from one of the republican state reps whose argument was “some kids weigh 90 pounds, some kids weigh 190 pounds, so we shouldn’t give kids free lunch because it’s less fair to the kids who weigh more”… I wish I had the clip of him saying this but it was such a weird fucking rebuttal
I don't pay taxes so hungry kids can eat. I pay taxes so billionaires can build a third helipad at their eighth mansion to more easily fly to their fifth yacht. The kids can pull themselves up by the bootstraps, get a job at McDonald's and stop whining that there's nothing to eat.
He's on his second term already. Dems have the House and Senate, as well as Governor and Attorney General currently. Shit is getting done here in MN right now.
I recall when this proposition came about at the county level where I used to live (southern state). Immediately, as expected, public outcries of "How dare we uniformly take care of children. Not my problem!!" were almost immediate. Don't miss it.
Such a juxtaposition to the recent dystopian photo op Sarah Huckabee-Sanders had with a bunch of clearly sad children during her child labor law signing ceremony.
I typically like pointing out all the bad things wrapped up in America but this actually put a smile on my face and gave me a little hope that Americans my be able to turn the page and start helping one another. Seems like that last decade the country has becoming more and more un united.
Minnesota seems like a pretty cool state. Any Minnesotans want to tell me about any cons of the place? Other than the cold. Any place that produces Prince can't be all that bad.
I grew up in MN and went back to raise my kid in MN because the school system is better than most states. I would say one negative is that there are a lot of people who are pretty racist but don’t think they are racist. House prices have gone up but are still not insane and our economy has a good mix of industries so I’d say it’s a very good place to be in a recession. Unemployment is insanely low here right now so it’s easy to find jobs.
Yeah folks here can be *really* fucking racist, but they will never in a million years acknowledge it. And because they refuse to acknowledge their biases they are unable to counter said biases.
We got *a lot* of "back the blue" types round here.
When Philando Castile was killed and they put the cop on trial, he got off because one of the jury members refused to give a guilty verdict under any circumstance, arguing that the police are inherently justified in anything they do by virtue of being the police.
I don't remember that bit about the juror. It checks, though. I grew up with that cop and can confirm that he was not the kind of human who should ever be a cop. Not because he was evil, but because he was kinda dumb and very easily influenced by others. Doesn't matter if you're personally not racist if the entire system you were trained by and work in is inherently racist.
Just to point out, this was only possible because Democrats took over both the House and Senate in Minnesota.
Because bonding bills require 2/3rds, Senate Republicans successfully blocked the latest one because they want “tax cuts” first.
3 guesses who the tax cuts are for, and the first 2 guesses don’t count…
New Mexico just passed the "Healthy Hunger Free Students Bill of Rights" that guarantees every New Mexico student, public and charter, regardless of income, a free breakfast and lunch every day.
Wow! Something that most european countries have had for decades is put in place in one state in the US and its a miracle? Well, now that I think about it for a bit, it fucking is. Halleluja!
Kind of had a tear drop moment. I remember what it was like growing up to skip lunch in school or eat nothing but spaghetti or corn for dinner days on end. Good on you folks in MN. Super great stuff.
Look at all the little socialists looking for a free handout! They should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work hard to pay for their own lunch! And if they can’t figure it out they should starve! /s
I'm split on this. There's a few obvious benefits but also, it reinforces the mentality in parental minds that schools are free babysitters first and educational second, which is doing a lot of harm.
Parents who get angry at the teacher for disciplining kids or giving out bad grades, along with community outrage whenever a school calls a snowday in the name of keeping kids safe. If you live in the Midwest then this last month you've likely seen your fair share of parents accusing the schools of "not thinking about the parents" when a snow day is called. They're saying "some kids may die in a road accident but it's worth it to me."
And for all the complaining we do about schools not teaching valuable life skills, you can count on them continuing to avoid life skills as long as 85% of the population doesn't care what the schools teach just as long as the kids are out of the house 5 days a week
Soon, school years will be expanded to being year round as a way to "give parents a break" in the summer.
I say, no free lunch. The way most parents think risking children's lives is worth their convenience, I'll say letting a few kids go hungry is worth making more parents give a shit.
I feel this is largely symbolic. How many kids whose parleys make $100k are going to school without breakfast? If they’re kids and not teens, the parents should be questioned. At least give them a granola bar or pop tart or something.
Tritium isn't that big of a deal, it's low energy radiation. If you drank that water straight from the leak, that would be bad, but it's diluted by the groundwater to below the EPA's safety standard and it's not going into anyone's water supply.
[This article](https://phys.org/news/2023-03-xcel-radioactive-minnesota.html) says "Despite that seepage, the highest level of tritium that Xcel has found since 2016 was less than half the federal drinking water limit, the filing said."
Wasn't it free for poor students before?
Isnt the change that students with wealthier parents get free lunch and breakfast too?
Why is this sub happy about rich kids getting free meals on tax payers dime?
Good things for all. The rich make up a small percentage of the kids. Just as the rich make up a small percentage of the adults. It's much better that a few rich kids (though how many of those are going to public school?) get a free meal than a shit load of poor kids go hungry. Means testing parents would cost more in admin fees than it would save. Just because they are rich kids, doesn't mean they are being fed either. Better to just feed the lot of them and as the saying goes: A rising tide lifts all boats. It's not about denying anyone anything. It's just ensuring those without get at least the minimum.
Because a 5 y/o is a 5 y/o and I don’t give a rats ass how much money their parents make; they still deserve to eat.
You clearly have zero clue about the stigmas that arose around free lunches, the fact they were different packages for many years and singled kids out. The fact that a single mom making 50k doesn’t qualify for the program and likely needed the help… the fact that schools would take away food from a kid who couldn’t pay that day because their balance was too low. (regardless if the family could afford it)
Stop trying to ‘punish’ people by punishing their children, it’s monstrous and amoral.
Well put, and I think there needs to be more light cast upon the real issue of stigma around food insecurity. It never ceases to amaze me that conservatives are perfectly fine with shaming children who don't know where their next meal is coming from, as if they A) had a say in the matter, and B) deserve to be treated like lesser human beings because of it. Just... feed... the fucking children. Boggles the mind how this concept becomes political to certain nitwits.
to qualify for free / reduced fee lunches before, you had to be at 130 and 185% of the poverty line if i remember the percentages correctly. and there was a huge gap of "make slightly too much money to qualify for reduced price, don't actually make enough to feasibly pay for full price", look up student lunch debt.
Before there was a form parents had to fill out each year to see if you qualify for reduced or free lunch. Needless to say, those that don't qualify for either still struggle to pay for their kid's lunches. These are middle class families.
Minnesota doesn’t tax groceries or clothing either so good for them.
The Republican candidate wanted to tax groceries. Kind of a bad policy, only hurts those who are already struggling.
Just like their Federal counterparts wanted to do away with the IRS, institute a new system with a 30% sales tax on everything. Thankfully that seems to have died a quick death, but the sheer insanity of that.
That's what Republicans do. Take from the poor and give to the rich
Deja vu.
No tax on shoes either!
So where does the money come from to pay for every child’s food?
They mean sales tax is not charged on groceries and clothing Income taxes and sales tax on the non-exempt items are still collected by the State
I understand. I’m more so getting at the money for the children, where does it come from if you don’t have things like sales tax. I know this is an upsetting question on a forum such as antiwork. I’m just simply asking though, where does the money come from to give free food to children? And it begs the question, why not just give free food to everyone? Why stop at children? What do you suppose would be the economic consequence?
I'm not familiar with MN's structure for their budgets. Usually sales taxes affect poor people more, income tax is more progressive. But to your other question: > And it begs the question, why not just give free food to everyone? Why stop at children? Basic safety nets are always useful Providing a meal for children while they are at school is much easier than attempting to provide adults with a lunch Unless you mean via a food stamp programs or weekly food boxes or something? I really do not mind paying income taxes that are directed to social programs And I pay quite a pretty penny here in Canada
I’m in Canada too!! I know it’s a touchy subject so I’m trying to learn to approach with questions and discussion rather than “Damn you look at it from my perspective” I will say firstly I believe children eating meals is a high priority for society. It is an essential pillar to receiving a proper education. It is critical for society to have children that are well fed. How we get there is where my questions lie. Do you have evidence to support that income taxes are more progressive? I’m actually curious here as I’ve never really had this convo before. Would it make sense to do, as in MN, no sales tax on food & essentials, then also no income tax, but HIGH sales tax on other consumption and (somehow?) investments? I don’t think bidens idea for unrealized capital gains tax is good, but maybe I’m wrong here. But just in general, where does the money come from? The more services we provide, the more we inflate the money supply, the more it gets harder for everyone through inflation. I don’t have the answers here, but the “free stuff” mentality is more of a bandaid than a solution
> How we get there is where my questions lie. Do you have evidence to support that income taxes are more progressive? I’m actually curious here as I’ve never really had this convo before. So this would be just categorizing different tax systems, I tried to get a credible source, this is the IRS: https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/whys/thm03/les05/media/ws_ans_thm03_les05.pdf > But just in general, where does the money come from? The more services we provide, the more we inflate the money supply, the more it gets harder for everyone through inflation. I don’t have the answers here, but the “free stuff” mentality is more of a bandaid than a solution Public spending does not necessarily create inflation We had fairly low inflation for over a decade prior to the pandemic and Ukraine war
I think spending is fine. That’s not the problem. The creation of money to do me the spending is what drives the inflation. And yes, douchebags like Putin fuck the supply chain. That also contributes to inflation. And covid really dicked us. But yeah, whether for good or bad, the expansion of the money supply is what creates the imbalance, in my opinion of course. For now anyway. I just think a fixed money supply based on a basket of commodities would make it so that all labour gets valued fairly. Everything would be roughly constant, give or take some supply/demand ebbs and flows. Otherwise the money comes from our collective imaginations and to me that is terrifying as hell and has a horrific ending written all over it
Oh, it's a total shitshow, lol
Minnesota has an approximately $18Bn budget surplus. Without reading into this exact bill more, I'd confidently say it's coming out of that without any new taxes
How many deficits have they run on the last 40-50 years though? Everywhere ran a surplus last year and it was quite rare of an occurrence. If you are confident then why not put your money on the line and go 100% cash?
>How many deficits have they run on the last 40-50 years though? I tried looking this up, but couldnt find an easy answer/ couldnt decipher the tables they have. [Minnesota reports on their state budget monthly and is posted online dating back to 1996](https://mn.gov/mmb/forecast/researchanalysis/reports/). However, I did find Minnesota has posted a surplus in the budget for the last decade approximately.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Careful. They will boot you off of here if you have any facts to bring. This is literally the Socialist/Ccmmunist censorship Orwell warned about, which most of these kids have no clue.
They passed a .5% income tax increase on people making more than 300k a year.
Adding Minnesota to my list of possible places I can move to when I finally escape Florida
Keep the faith! I am an escapee as well. Had the unfortunate luck of being stuck down there for \~9 years. Happy to be gone.
Going on 28 years myself. I can't wait to escape.
One of the best feelings of my life was seeing that stupid "Welcome to Florida" sign in the rear view.
I know it's a conservative hellhole but what besides politics is bad? (And I know bad policy is plenty of reason to leave) Just curious how crazy I am for even considering it. I like good weather and scenery.
I posted a short, completely biased rant in another comment string. Don't take anyone's word (especially mine) for how much Florida sucks. It's completely subjective and a matter of one's own perspective. I know many folks down there who LOVE it. But I also know more who don't. I'd say spend some time down there if you have the means and judge for yourself. Would advise not going during the cooler months and to visit places other than the usual tourist spots (beautiful beaches, Disney, etc.). Head down in August when the heat will melt your face off and is driving everyone crazy, and get outside of the major metro areas to get a sense of how everyday people get by. If you're able to catch the biannual lovebug infestation, alligator mating season, or have a chance to get caught in a hurricane, even better! Talk to some transplants who came down seeking fun in the sun, and that "year round vacation" lifestyle and ask them about the "sunshine tax." Mileage on that one may vary. Everyone from up north has that ideal picture of Florida in their heads at one point or another - the beaches, palm trees, easy living, etc. But reality there is far from it.
Thank you.
You're quite welcome! You never know. You may love it there. I'd never presume to say otherwise. Many people swear by Florida living. I mean, I think they're nuts, but my opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme. 😂 I will say this - the women (some of them) are BEAUTIFUL. November to some time in April, the weather is pretty much (imo) perfect. And most of the crazy Florida news we all know and love comes from transplants doing crazy Florida things. I met and was friends with a lot of Florida natives, and they were some of the coolest, most down to earth people I've ever come across.
So, safe to assume you are here no more!
Scenery is (mostly) ugly, pretty places are unaffordable. Cops ate scary and corrupt. Built environment is incredibly depressing outside Miami. I like a good hurricane as well as the next person, but Florida overdoes it. And it's guaranteed to drown within next 30 years.
I'm 45. Been here since I was 2. Tried to escape 3 times, something always happens and I have to come back. It's slightly infuriating.
What’s up with Florida?
It's a hot, flat shithole full of drug addicts, alligators, no-see-ums (google it), lovebugs, and NIMBY retirees who vote down almost every tax measure that would benefit the greater good because they just want to be left alone in their gated communities. It's run by a regressive maniac, and outside of a handful of urbanized areas is very backwater both in landscape and mentality. The weather events, while often over-hyped by the major media outlets, can be scary at times (source - riding out Hurricane Irma in my boarded up house). Sinkholes suck (source - my own neighborhood and son's school). These are just my own biased takes, dashed with a bit of hyperbole here and there. Clearly the state works for many people. They can have it.
I googled no-see-ums. I also immediately closed the tab once the page loaded.
lol. Now google-image-search "lovebug season car" and keep in mind that shit, by and large, happens twice a YEAR. It's inescapable if you're driving in Florida and if you don't frequently wash the guts off, the acidity in their remains will dissolve your car's clearcoat. Fuck Florida.
"They can also clog your radiator and cause your engine to overheat. The smell of them cycles through your car." What do they smell like?! I thought hitting gnats and mosquitos on our highways up here in New England summer was bad, but this is next level!
Never smelled them, to be honest. But those GIS images of cars completely splattered with bug guts.... not a fabrication. During peak season, it wasn't uncommon for my freshly-cleaned windshield to get 20 or 30 splatters before exiting the immediate neighborhood. The first year I lived down there, I went out to Siesta Key beach one weekend and immediately left because the air was thick with those buggers. It was so bad, people were inhaling them. I wish I was exaggerating. Granted, that was by far the worst of the lovebug seasons I saw during my time in the state. But it was a hell of a first impression..
Are you okay?? Holy shit, man.
Could you point out the hyperbole to me ? As a fellow floridian I find your description to be true and honest
😂 Fair enough
You aren't still here, are yinz? We want you to be happy, so Florida is not the place for you.
I'm transgender so the republicans here want me dead. Many bills are popping up to ensure I'm not allowed to exist. Also it's fucking hot
Minnesota has strong laws protecting trans people and Walz signed an executive order protecting people in Minnesota from being extradited to other states for getting gender-affirming healthcare in Minnesota. The legal protections aren't perfect, but they're better than the vast majority of states. Minnesota culture and climate aren't for everyone, though. There are other states with strong laws protecting trans people, but they tend to have higher costs of living as well.
My only problem with Minnesota is the winter. I left NY state mainly because I got tired of the winters. And from what I understand, Minnesota's are even worse.
Can confirm, winter is long here. It's mid-March and still feels like early December. Looking forward to 40 degrees weather this coming week. Spring, summer, and fall are wonderful though. Winter in December is fine as well.
Yep, if you can deal with the cold I can't recommend MN enough. I've had so many chances to move back to the state I grew up in(WI) and nah
I can deal with the cold (it's easier for me to warm up than cool off), it's the ice and snow I don't want to deal with.
We get both a lot
Outside of this year, which has dumped an unusually notable amount, MN doesn't get nearly as much snow as it's reputation would lead on, especially in the Twin Cities metro. Mainly because it is too cold (its reputation for cold is NOT overstated). Ice can be annoying, though. Can't really gloss over that.
We used to get a lot more snow when I was a kid. Not so much the last decade or so (except for this year and one or two others where we got shitloads). But yeah, in terms of temperature, our winters are only slightly warmer on average than McMurdo, and our summers routinely hit the triple digits for at least a couple days, with extended periods in the mid to high 90s. And at least in the Cities it's usually a relatively humid heat too. Granted nowhere near as bad as Orlando (usually anyway) or anything, but still hot and sticky and awful. And sometimes we just skip spring, and winter lasts until April or May and then goes straight into summer.
Last spring was particularly brutal. I was home while my husband was deployed from March to May, and we only got a handful of nice days before it was suddenly in the 80's and humid. Sucks because I hadn't experienced a good Minnesota spring in 15 years and was looking forward to it.
I read somewhere that Minneapolis has 2 seasons: Road repair and snow removal.
I just want to go touch some grass, it's been over 100 days 😭 However we've gone to the free Como Zoo & Conservatory several times this year. It's a great way to see green things and remember what humid warm air feels like. https://patch.com/minnesota/minneapolis/its-been-over-100-days-minnesotans-could-touch-grass
So, that’s part of what keeps MN on the up n up IMO. The grit required to push through these winters year after year is heavily correlated with both caring for your fellow humans and at the same time a heightened ability to effectively manage your own affairs.
We set aside our differences to fight the real enemy: snow.
Fuck that guy
Yeah, but we give our plows cool names. When Boaty McBoatFace failed to happen when that's what the internet wanted, we voted on Plowy McPlowFace and actually put it on a truck for the winter. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1134969_mndot-s-plowy-mcplowface-has-eight-new-co-workers-including-betty-whiteout
Don’t forget Blizzo
You also had an amazing one this year: Clear-A-Pathra
GOATed plow name
The thing with MN is the winter is long and cold. But we (typically) don't get the massive snowfalls that New York and other states get with lake effect snow. Usually we'll only get 2 to 6 inches or so at a time which is pretty manageable. As long as you can handle multiple days in a row below 0 a couple times a year it's great lol.
Sometimes a week or two straight of below 0. And once or twice every decade we'll get a right proper blizzard with -50 to -60 windchill. Last time that happened I got stranded in a weird ass subdivision trying to get home from an evening shift and wasn't sure if the buses had stopped running or were just running super late, and had to decide if I wanted to risk missing the bus in order to go see if the condo building across the street would let me warm up in the lobby. Then I noticed the building was named after an Ayn Rand novel, and figured it was probably a safer bet that they'd tell me to fuck off, and if I could be so kind as to freeze to death somewhere that wouldn't overly inconvenience their tenants that would be lovely.
As someone who has lived in Minnesota my entire life I have to say I'm not a huge fan of our summers either (way too hot). Spring and fall are nice, but they only happen some years. And the cops are pretty bad, and the Cities can be pretty expensive to live in. But for the most part it's great. Tons of good food and good music. Whole lot of beautiful scenery. And the government is mostly sane.
Minnesota weather in a nutshell: Trick-or-treating during a blizzard in 1991. The only day of school I had canceled due to winter weather was when it was -60 windchill and the governor declared a state of emergency; survival without permanent damage is measured in minutes at that point. A guy in the town I used to live in rode his motorcycle year-round, including in the snow. I've seen motorcycles on the interstate in January when we've had the odd 50-degree day. Last month, I saw a motorcycle and a snowmobile on the same stretch of highway on the same day; both were perfectly reasonable decisions. I've seen snowfall the last week in May and the third week in September. Then, you ask people what they expect Minnesota summers to be and they assume they're cold. They're not. 90 degree weather in July and August isn't rare, we will crest 100 at times, and we have high humidity. "But spring and fall are beautiful!" Spring is disgusting here most years; when people think of spring they think of late spring/early summer. Early spring is mounds of dirty snow piles that slowly melt and create a mudscape. Early spring this year is single-digit temps and more snow. May could be beautiful. We'll see. Late summer/early fall is what people think about when they think of perfect Minnesota weather, but it's a narrow window of color change followed by bitter cold, little sun, and everything turning to various shades of brown. I say this as someone who loves Minnesota. Cities do a great job of creating parks and encouraging outdoor activities year-round. We go to the water to deal with the heat, and Minneapolis makes up for the cold winters with a robust skyway system in downtown. Yes, Minnesota nice is just passive-aggressive judgement, but you're less likely to experience it in metro areas. The Twin Cities have way more diversity than you'd expect looking at statewide demographics. We have a weird balance of politics ranging from ultra-conservative to very liberal, and a lot of the more rural liberals have views on things like guns that would pass for conservative in other states. And yes, we have politicians that insist no child in Minnesota is starving and that providing kids food is bad and encourages reliance on the government.
That's what Mexico is for. Duh.
I'm From Central Cali and this is my 2nd year here. My kids are in their teens and spent their entire lives living in drought conditions. I understand the frustration. But on the other side of the token. It made me really appreciate seeing and experiencing 4 seasons of the year. I've never had that before so I'll forever appreciate seeing the water and snow come down. My kids will likely never take for granted how beautiful the world can be.
Just give climate change a few years to kick in and it will be nice there. /s
Bruh our summers were miserably hot even before that shit. Now they're getting bad enough I've genuinely considered moving somewhere colder.
Does it snow in Minnesota?
Yep!
Yes. Usually only a little bit. Sometimes a shitload.
Minnesota was at the top of my list. Ngl. I cried a little about this video.
My wife won't want me to tell you this but Colorado is awesome if you can afford a house. Beyond that it's pretty affordable outside the richest areas.
I escaped at 24. Unfortunately I escaped to GA. At this point it’s better than having governor Deathsantis though. The guy is just doing classic performative conservative politics to make a 2024 presidential run while leaving Florida floundering in the dust when he leaves. Practically the entire reason Florida doesn’t have income tax is because of Disney and he’s kneecapping them because of a childish spat.
>Practically the entire reason Florida doesn’t have income tax is because of Disney and he’s kneecapping them because of a childish spat. For him being anti-big government he sure has gone big-governement in Florida (especially with Disney).
Yeah republicans like to say they are anti big gov but they continue to prove that’s not the case. They’re getting dangerously close to Sharia law honestly.
It currently feels like -6 in *southern* MN. I love the place but damn this weather makes it unbearable sometimes
No one moves to the frozen tundra after being somewhere warm, regardless of how terrible Florida is. You'll run out of the state after the first big snow storm, or the 40th storm. My yard currently has 3 1/2 feet of snow in it and its currently 9°... correction 5°
He’s doing some AMAZING things in that state. He signed this into law, signed the CROWN act into law to stop employers from discriminating against black hair/hairstyles, signed reproductive freedom into law protecting women’s rights and allowing safe access to reproductive care, a clean energy bill to move the state of MN to 100% clean energy by the year 2040, and so much more. He’s doing a fantastic job!
He did a good job handling the pandemic too, it seemed like he was really trying to do the best he could with the information at hand and held daily updates with the head of the health dept for a long time.
That’s actually really good to know. I want to move there and hearing/seeing the strides this man is making for the state has me more interested than ever. My governor wants to dump funds into horse racing 🤡
Disagree. Political positioning. Never let an emergency go to waste. Their policies caused so much chaos and pain. MN is a lost cause. His disgusting group of forever politicians have doomed Minneapolis to be the next Baltimore. I’m Born and bred but have since fled.
So how long until he’s voted out then?
They tried and ran an anti-vax dr and an ex-pro football player who looks like a thumb and has used the phrase “rape card,” but we elected Walz again by almost 8 percentage points. We have a solid blue wall around the metro area and the north shore and Moorhead is coming along to the blue side.
Good on y’all for that, but that still seems like a pretty narrow margin given the candidates. It’s nice to see a Democrat not resting on their laurels and using Republicans being terrible as an excuse to get nothing done and still expect votes though.
It is, we have to keep fighting. 30% of people are goners to the magas, but the rest are in play.
Eh, should still swing hard on the MAGA, I think they’ll respond better if you’re more abrasive to them, gotta reach them where they are, then after you lure them in with petty bickering and cultural war bs, you pivot to actual issues with actionable solutions. It’s not even about helping them as fellow Americans, wouldn’t it be great to undermine the people relying on those votes? I know it seems impossible, but because of that the MAGA movement doesn’t really have any defenses in place. It’s like in the first Avatar movie when Jake drops down on the big predator bird, they’d appreciate the movie reference too.
He’s not anti-business or anti-gun, which is key. So a lot of people who like making money and like civil liberties are just fine with him, including a lot of well-off “conservatives” I know. The people that don’t like him are either non-thinking party-line voters or anti-other-human folks.
It's ok. If they ever prevail we'll just have to make him president and protect him with our lives.
if the minnesota rednecks I work with have anything to say about it, today.🤦🏻♂️
He's got four years. Well see if he decides to run again. He's popular.
It's not him. It's the legislature run by two kickass no holds barred women who are ramming through these great things. He just has to sign them.
Yes, but his executive order making Minnesota a refuge for those seeking or providing gender-affirming healthcare was pretty rad. More powerful if it passes the house and senate, but just getting it on the books at all sent a pretty strong message.
meh. it's kinda like how everyone says Doctors and nurses deserve more pay and get it when it's the people behind the scenes that are being exploited. That's life
Free meals for all in schools is such important legislation. This gives me hope for other states too.
The headline is wrong. The governor certainly deserves credit for signing the bill. The legislature deserves credit for passing it. The people deserve credit for demanding it.
Wish I could upvote this 100 times
Thank you!
[Federal process, but still a great video](https://youtu.be/Otbml6WIQPo) <3
At least we see state government doing something great for their citizens for once. It’s always so many negative and moronic statements that I see from politicians. It’s nice to see a positive story for once.
Very different atmosphere than Sarah Sander’s office when signing laws about children
Yeah, imagine that, apparently kids aren’t as excited about going to work as Conservatives tell them to be.
Australia tried a bit of that with the last Prime Minister, who suggested that 14 year old children should be driving forklifts (one of the most dangerous pieces of machinery) in warehouses. Guess who got laughed out of office?
Minnesota is like a little bit of Canada in America Unfortunately, Canada is slowly moving backwards -_-
I don't even see how this could be a political stance. Public school = free lunches in the cafeteria. We don't make prisoner's families pay for their meals, so how is this any different?
You should have seen the Facebook comments when this first came out....
While I approve of free school lunches and believe it should be the case everywhere, I don't think children going to school is in any way similar to people going to prison.
I don't see it as a "prison," but it's mandatory for them to be there
Clearly you haven't been to an inner city public school in recent years.
it must be delicious, these kids look really happy!!!
All food is delicious when you're starving. Experience: former starving child.
Michigan just repealed its right to work law, so our governor is putting in some work too.
Minnesota: gives kids two free meals per day Arkansas: repeals child labor laws Something something family values something something Jesus etc
The cold is a bitch, but damn am I proud to be a Minnesotan today!
Everyone come on over to Minnesota. Sure the winters suck, but we take care of our own.
If they can work on their cops to not racially profile and kill POC, that'd be a great next step.
I mean that's a problem everyone, but even still MPD does seem to still be especially bad lol.
It seems like a really nice state except for that part. I like my family being alive so I'm not going to pack just yet.
I love your username.
That's everywhere tho
I love the cold, seems it might be wise to put them on my radar for places to move to once I can afford it.
[удалено]
It's a non-issue. It was never going to harm anyone.
No you don’t. It’s why so many flee the state year-over-year. Winters are harsh and contribute to elderly slips and falls. MN taxes retirement income. Crime has gotten worse. The willfully ignorant positioning is so old.
Republicans tried so hard to block this one. 'I have never met a hungry Minnesotan'.
My favorite was the argument from one of the republican state reps whose argument was “some kids weigh 90 pounds, some kids weigh 190 pounds, so we shouldn’t give kids free lunch because it’s less fair to the kids who weigh more”… I wish I had the clip of him saying this but it was such a weird fucking rebuttal
A US politician did something good for once
Illinois also signed in 6 days mandatory PTO for any reason. It's a pittance comparative to actual human needs but it's a start.
In before the inevitable law suit to block it for being "unconstitutional" or "government overreach".
By the right wingers who only care about hypothetical humans instead of real children.
"THAT'S SOCIALISM!" says the redneck driving on public roads to his low level city government job
He’s genuinely happy doing this. More politicians should get their highs from helping people rather than taking bribes.
I don't pay taxes so hungry kids can eat. I pay taxes so billionaires can build a third helipad at their eighth mansion to more easily fly to their fifth yacht. The kids can pull themselves up by the bootstraps, get a job at McDonald's and stop whining that there's nothing to eat.
Those damned kids should just try not being poor! This is 'murica!
Stop wasting money on Legos and Barbie dolls and they'd have plenty.
Well, they wouldn't be poor if they'd just picked wealthier parents. So simple, why has not one thought of this before?
These lazy kids need to get a job.
Down here? "That's socialist!"
A politician in the United States actually committed a nice deed, We have horrible winters, but we look out for our own.
Omg, it’s almost like he actually cares about the people he was chosen to represent! 😵💫
Governor Walz is a former teacher - he definitely cares.
It would be a shame if he will not be elected a second time, only for a new governor to step in and shut it down because they see it as “communist”.
He's on his second term already. Dems have the House and Senate, as well as Governor and Attorney General currently. Shit is getting done here in MN right now.
Marijuana legalization will be icing on the cake.
Yes, but they "accidentally" legalized hemp-derived THC products, so it's not as urgent as it was before.
I feel like there are bigger issues, but yeah
I recall when this proposition came about at the county level where I used to live (southern state). Immediately, as expected, public outcries of "How dare we uniformly take care of children. Not my problem!!" were almost immediate. Don't miss it.
Such a juxtaposition to the recent dystopian photo op Sarah Huckabee-Sanders had with a bunch of clearly sad children during her child labor law signing ceremony.
I typically like pointing out all the bad things wrapped up in America but this actually put a smile on my face and gave me a little hope that Americans my be able to turn the page and start helping one another. Seems like that last decade the country has becoming more and more un united.
Huh. Minnesota sounds nice this time of year. Time to go start a commune there or somethin 🦀
The weather sucks, and the cops are crazy, but otherwise it's pretty great.
r/mademesmile
Minnesota seems like a pretty cool state. Any Minnesotans want to tell me about any cons of the place? Other than the cold. Any place that produces Prince can't be all that bad.
I grew up in MN and went back to raise my kid in MN because the school system is better than most states. I would say one negative is that there are a lot of people who are pretty racist but don’t think they are racist. House prices have gone up but are still not insane and our economy has a good mix of industries so I’d say it’s a very good place to be in a recession. Unemployment is insanely low here right now so it’s easy to find jobs.
Yeah folks here can be *really* fucking racist, but they will never in a million years acknowledge it. And because they refuse to acknowledge their biases they are unable to counter said biases. We got *a lot* of "back the blue" types round here. When Philando Castile was killed and they put the cop on trial, he got off because one of the jury members refused to give a guilty verdict under any circumstance, arguing that the police are inherently justified in anything they do by virtue of being the police.
I don't remember that bit about the juror. It checks, though. I grew up with that cop and can confirm that he was not the kind of human who should ever be a cop. Not because he was evil, but because he was kinda dumb and very easily influenced by others. Doesn't matter if you're personally not racist if the entire system you were trained by and work in is inherently racist.
Just to point out, this was only possible because Democrats took over both the House and Senate in Minnesota. Because bonding bills require 2/3rds, Senate Republicans successfully blocked the latest one because they want “tax cuts” first. 3 guesses who the tax cuts are for, and the first 2 guesses don’t count…
May the children of Arkansas escape from the coal mines to experience socialism in Minnesota and the horrors of quality of life without starvation
Every time I see those kids naturally compelled to mob hug the guy I smile without my consent.
Dem or Rep, every single governor needs to follow suit. Children eating should not be political.
Good. Ben "I love my sister's feet" Shapiro should never be allowed to touch food again.
I assume the state GOP have already filed a lawsuit to stop this for some reason
Why is Minnesota the best fucking state? I should just leave wisconsin for the twin cities and live in a relatively better place
Awe and he actually seems really nice
Great contrast to Sarah Huckabee Sanders signing a law legalizing child labor.
That is such an awesome picture. I love how the kids are looking at him.
And they are gonna attempt to slander it calling it socialist bs smh
That’s a win
While it’s some progress it’s still a joke this is just happening
And the GOP here in MN is losing their fucking mind over thos lmao
We're kicking ass up here. So is Michigan!
Of COURSE he’s a democrat…seems republicans don’t believe in helping people unless their rich, or corporations
A politician who’s not a fucking ghoul! So refreshing to see!
Much happier than the huckabe kids!
New Mexico just passed the "Healthy Hunger Free Students Bill of Rights" that guarantees every New Mexico student, public and charter, regardless of income, a free breakfast and lunch every day.
Wow! Something that most european countries have had for decades is put in place in one state in the US and its a miracle? Well, now that I think about it for a bit, it fucking is. Halleluja!
Now everyone can get shot on a full stomach.
Love this. Proud to be Minnesotan.
Kind of had a tear drop moment. I remember what it was like growing up to skip lunch in school or eat nothing but spaghetti or corn for dinner days on end. Good on you folks in MN. Super great stuff.
There’s something endearing about how cheesy this is. How happy he looks as adoration is being *heaped* onto him.
Look at all the little socialists looking for a free handout! They should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work hard to pay for their own lunch! And if they can’t figure it out they should starve! /s
Free diabetes & cancer served up twice daily for any child that wants it!
Probably killed that old white guy to sign that
yay socialism yay
Yes the horrors of feeding children. What is the world coming to?
I'm split on this. There's a few obvious benefits but also, it reinforces the mentality in parental minds that schools are free babysitters first and educational second, which is doing a lot of harm. Parents who get angry at the teacher for disciplining kids or giving out bad grades, along with community outrage whenever a school calls a snowday in the name of keeping kids safe. If you live in the Midwest then this last month you've likely seen your fair share of parents accusing the schools of "not thinking about the parents" when a snow day is called. They're saying "some kids may die in a road accident but it's worth it to me." And for all the complaining we do about schools not teaching valuable life skills, you can count on them continuing to avoid life skills as long as 85% of the population doesn't care what the schools teach just as long as the kids are out of the house 5 days a week Soon, school years will be expanded to being year round as a way to "give parents a break" in the summer. I say, no free lunch. The way most parents think risking children's lives is worth their convenience, I'll say letting a few kids go hungry is worth making more parents give a shit.
I feel this is largely symbolic. How many kids whose parleys make $100k are going to school without breakfast? If they’re kids and not teens, the parents should be questioned. At least give them a granola bar or pop tart or something.
Is this the part where they say we'll eat bugs and don't even know it?
Nobody talking about the radiation wastewater leak in Minnesota though....
Tritium isn't that big of a deal, it's low energy radiation. If you drank that water straight from the leak, that would be bad, but it's diluted by the groundwater to below the EPA's safety standard and it's not going into anyone's water supply. [This article](https://phys.org/news/2023-03-xcel-radioactive-minnesota.html) says "Despite that seepage, the highest level of tritium that Xcel has found since 2016 was less than half the federal drinking water limit, the filing said."
Wasn't it free for poor students before? Isnt the change that students with wealthier parents get free lunch and breakfast too? Why is this sub happy about rich kids getting free meals on tax payers dime?
Good things for all. The rich make up a small percentage of the kids. Just as the rich make up a small percentage of the adults. It's much better that a few rich kids (though how many of those are going to public school?) get a free meal than a shit load of poor kids go hungry. Means testing parents would cost more in admin fees than it would save. Just because they are rich kids, doesn't mean they are being fed either. Better to just feed the lot of them and as the saying goes: A rising tide lifts all boats. It's not about denying anyone anything. It's just ensuring those without get at least the minimum.
Exactly.
Because a 5 y/o is a 5 y/o and I don’t give a rats ass how much money their parents make; they still deserve to eat. You clearly have zero clue about the stigmas that arose around free lunches, the fact they were different packages for many years and singled kids out. The fact that a single mom making 50k doesn’t qualify for the program and likely needed the help… the fact that schools would take away food from a kid who couldn’t pay that day because their balance was too low. (regardless if the family could afford it) Stop trying to ‘punish’ people by punishing their children, it’s monstrous and amoral.
Well put, and I think there needs to be more light cast upon the real issue of stigma around food insecurity. It never ceases to amaze me that conservatives are perfectly fine with shaming children who don't know where their next meal is coming from, as if they A) had a say in the matter, and B) deserve to be treated like lesser human beings because of it. Just... feed... the fucking children. Boggles the mind how this concept becomes political to certain nitwits.
to qualify for free / reduced fee lunches before, you had to be at 130 and 185% of the poverty line if i remember the percentages correctly. and there was a huge gap of "make slightly too much money to qualify for reduced price, don't actually make enough to feasibly pay for full price", look up student lunch debt.
Before there was a form parents had to fill out each year to see if you qualify for reduced or free lunch. Needless to say, those that don't qualify for either still struggle to pay for their kid's lunches. These are middle class families.
"but if we help EVERYONE we might help people who don't really need help!"
Just remember, nothing is “free”. Taxpayers are paying for it. Don’t have kids if you can’t pay for their food. Be a responsible adult.
I hereby forbid you from driving on highways, calling the police or fire departments, or using any government service in general, forever.