Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026For the latest on Trump and A.I. from yesterday: A genuine congrats to those recognized however peculiar in the context that they’re all CEOs of the largest corporations on the stock market. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"I’m on my annual win-a-trip journey, which I started 20 years ago to take a university student on a reporting trip to cover neglected issues. Usually we travel abroad, often in Africa, but this time we explored... Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky." 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"In addition, some three million Americans have lost Obamacare health insurance since the beginning of this year, after Rs cut subsidies to help pay for insurance." 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"The push to cut benefits for struggling Americans is partly rooted in a desire to trim fed spending, but that’s hard to square with the expense of the Iran war, as well as subsidies for private planes and tax cuts for the wealthiest." 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Yet if we want to talk ab lack of personal responsibility, we also have to have a conversation ab our collective lack of responsibility, about the way we treat some kids as throwaways — or the way we’re now taking food stamps from 1.5M children." 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026🎵Yeah, but now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado Like a heart-broke Desperado, headed right back to my roots🎵 open.spotify.com/track/12k3pL...open.spotify.comSand In My BootsMorgan Wallen · Dangerous: The Double Album · Song · 2021 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026🎵Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots🎵 open.spotify.com/track/12k3pL...open.spotify.comSand In My BootsMorgan Wallen · Dangerous: The Double Album · Song · 2021 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Many sectors of America — and many Americans — are thriving. Yet my sense is that many of us are blind to how many people have been left far behind." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet Paper 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"And this pain across America is now magnified by President Trump’s cuts in food stamps, Medicaid, mental health funding for children, pregnancy prevention initiatives and other social programs, as well as by rising gas and food prices." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Rs are also imposing tougher work requirements for benefits; this is reasonable in theory, but in practice such requirements have proved costly to administer and end up mostly just driving people deeper into poverty." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"One thing we saw repeatedly on this road trip is that poverty in America is not just ab a lack of money, but is often multigenerational and self-replicating." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"... a shift manager at Taco Bell, earning $13.40 an hr. She relied on $1,172 in food stamps per month (for six kids) — but they were abruptly cut off in May, apparently bc of suspicions that two of her children (🤱🤷) were collecting improper benefits in other states." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"W/o food stamps, Foster now is behind in her rent — $650 a month for a three-bedroom home in a crime-ridden neighborhood — and accumulating a $25-a-day late fee on top of the rent owed." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Americans may see a homeless person shooting drugs, but they won’t see the arc of hopelessness that began with, say, foster care — which at its worst is a government system of child abuse." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Scholars have said that of millennials who follow the 'success sequence' (finish high school, get a full-time job and have children only after marriage), 97 percent avoid poverty by their late 20s." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Courtney Williams, 31, endured that broken foster care system. I met her in Oklahoma City, where she is caring for a new baby and hoping her $298 a month in food stamps won’t be taken away." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"We taxpayers paid for Williams to be incarcerated — 3x — but we never provided her the protection and opp she needed, esp when she was young and most needed help. And when we don’t invest in the front end, we end up paying at the back end." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Visiting that crowded home, I kept thinking back to Emanuel a decade ago as an equally sweet child, ab the obstacle course of life that Black boys face in Pine Bluff, and I wondered if his children were on a trajectory to replicate his path." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Goodman's message to Trump on safety net cuts: “You do not know what you’re doing to people who are struggling to live. You got money in the bank. You don’t know how it feels to struggle. Live in my shoes for one day. You wouldn’t be able to handle it.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 011
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"The reason for the bandage? Goodman, 44, survives by selling blood plasma twice a week. She had $3.78 in her checking account, one cent in her savings account to keep it open, and six pennies in her piggy bank." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Food stamps, $298 a month, sustain her, but they can’t be used for toilet paper or feminine hygiene products. So she searches for them at church-run pantries — lifelines in much of America." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Meet the Americans Who Can’t Afford Haircuts or Toilet PaperMillions of Americans struggle in sometimes unimaginable ways, and Trump’s cuts in food stamps and other benefits are now making life even more precarious. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"The first thing that struck me about poverty I saw in this country was how it was braided together with the drug epidemic." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"The second thing that struck me ab the poverty I saw in America is that it can be unbelievably lonely. Many of those we met were cut off from extended family and left to fend for themselves." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"... the woman in AR trying to raise six children on $13.40 an hr, the grandmother in E KY who told me tht I wldn’t find a single family... whose lives hadn’t been touched by addiction — a sentiment I heard again and again as we drove thru similar towns in AR & OK." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"My life (in Peru) was a node in a thick network of aunts, cousins, cousins twice removed and friends of friends. My parents still talk about the neighbors who tossed them a bag of oats in weeks when they had no food or money in the house." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"When our institutions failed, our community acted as social insurance — a threadbare substitute for state capacity but a substitute nevertheless." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Run by Tulsa’s Family & Children’s Services, it provides roughly two years of intensive treatment (housing, mental health counseling, work force training) as an alternative to prison." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Only ab 4 percent of participants go to prison within three years of graduating from the program. And Women in Recovery costs about $30,000 a year to enroll one woman — less than OK wld have spent imprisoning her for the same period." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"She had been sober for more than three years; she was raising her two oldest children again and preparing to see all five of her children in the same room for the first time." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Ultimately, a society as rich as America’s should be capable, however imperfectly, of providing families not only w money and consumer goods but also w a glimpse of a path forward." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 010
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"So many of those I spoke w are stuck in shrinking towns, in dead-end economies, in politics that look past them. As Ms. May said, they, too, 'deserve to have lives that are full of options.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/o...nytimes.comOpinion | Growing Up in Peru, She Thought She Knew Poverty. America Surprised Her.A Latin American sees homes that have air-conditioning but are racked by addiction and puzzles over what it means to be poor. 000
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleTeam Talarico @teamtalaricohq.bsky.social · 06/11/2025SNAP cuts are hurting more than 3.5 million Texans. So Team Talarico volunteers in San Antonio just packed over 16,800 lbs of food at the local food bank — equivalent to 13,480 meals! We will always show up for our neighbors. 532590
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleTeam Talarico @teamtalaricohq.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Earlier this month, as SNAP benefits were frozen and many Americans struggled to feed their families, our wonderful volunteers stepped up at local food banks across Texas, packaging tens of thousands of meals. This is what our campaign is all about: supporting our neighbors. 04911
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleTeam Talarico @teamtalaricohq.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Fox reporter: James Talarico is doing counter-programming to the GOP convention by hosting food drives all around Texas. He wants to shift focus to affordability. 1732086
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Food bank volunteer: “Ppl will say ‘I don’t want to take more than my share,’ and, ‘Are you sure you have enough for everybody?’ Some folks are clearly not getting enough to eat and they’re still thinking of other ppl.” www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...washingtonpost.comHe volunteered at a food bank. What he saw surprised him.Michael Jensen’s social media post struck a chord and led to an outpouring of donations to the nonprofit in Washington state. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Food bank volunteer (conti): “What I’ve gotten extra portions of is humble pie. And a stronger belief in the fundamental goodness of people.” www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...washingtonpost.comHe volunteered at a food bank. What he saw surprised him.Michael Jensen’s social media post struck a chord and led to an outpouring of donations to the nonprofit in Washington state. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Food bank assistant communications director: “We hear from neighbors saying, ‘I only come here when I absolutely need to bc I know other ppl need this food as well. Ppl who are facing hunger know how important these resources are.” www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...washingtonpost.comHe volunteered at a food bank. What he saw surprised him.Michael Jensen’s social media post struck a chord and led to an outpouring of donations to the nonprofit in Washington state. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"When she looked into it, she saw about $3,000 — a huge amount for the food bank — in digital donations, mostly in very small amounts." www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...washingtonpost.comHe volunteered at a food bank. What he saw surprised him.Michael Jensen’s social media post struck a chord and led to an outpouring of donations to the nonprofit in Washington state. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"... when people are personally touched by need, they understand how much a little bit of assistance can help." www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...washingtonpost.comHe volunteered at a food bank. What he saw surprised him.Michael Jensen’s social media post struck a chord and led to an outpouring of donations to the nonprofit in Washington state. 000
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleProPublica @propublica.org · 04/07/2025Arkansas is the only state other than Georgia to have implemented work requirements. GOP state lawmakers later changed their minds after data showed that red tape associated with verifying eligibility resulted in more than 18,000 people losing coverage within the first few months of the policy.propublica.orgWhat Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Tells Us About the Costs of Trump's Spending BillGOP lawmakers want to nationalize Medicaid work requirements to offset Trump’s proposed tax cuts. Yet Georgia’s example shows that this could threaten health care for nearly 16 million Americans and… 21507206
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleProPublica @propublica.org · 24/09/2025UPDATE: The Trump administration has approved an extension of Georgia's Medicaid work requirement experiment through Dec. 31, 2026. 19274123
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleProPublica @propublica.org · 05/10/2025#ICYMI: GOP lawmakers cite Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage as a national model for federal Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect in 2027. A GAO report shows the program has spent twice as much on administrative costs as on health care.propublica.orgGeorgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Program Spent Twice as Much on Administrative Costs as on Health Care, GAO SaysRepublican lawmakers cite Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage as a national model for federal Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect in 2027. A new report shows the program has spent at lea... 27578312
Reposted by Pepe the TurtleProPublica @propublica.org · 27/09/2025Enrollment in Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement program has remained stubbornly low. Despite a quarter-million low-income Georgians being eligible, only about 9,000 residents were actively enrolled as of Aug. 31.propublica.orgGeorgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Program Spent Twice as Much on Administrative Costs as on Health Care, GAO SaysRepublican lawmakers cite Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage as a national model for federal Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect in 2027. A new report shows the program has spent at lea... 12365162
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"The Medicaid changes are projected to save the fed govt $887B over the next decade and result in 7.5 million fewer people w health insurance, according to the CBO's 2025 estimate." 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Work reqs for some Medicaid beneficiaries begin across the U.S. in Jan the result of Pres Donald Trump’s big 2025 tax cut and policy law, and a handful of R-led states are imposing tougher rules than the law requires." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 010
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"As some R-led states take a tougher-than-required approach to implementing the federally mandated changes, Ds in 25 states are suing and asserting that the rules are too harsh." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"Currently states generally decide once a year whether Medicaid recipients still qualify for benefits. The new law will require it to happen twice for most enrollees." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"While states have been ramping up the use of this info, the work requirements are still a big change, and many will first have to spend millions of dollars improving their computer systems." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"States are already struggling in some cases to make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance food program, or SNAP, that are required under Trump’s law, including an expanded work requirement." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 000
Pepe the Turtle @hotteabreak.bsky.social · 09/10/2026"In AZ, for ex, enrollment plummeted by 55% from April 2025 to April 2026 — the biggest drop in the country — w more than 400,000 fewer people getting benefits now." apnews.com/article/medi...apnews.comAs work requirements kick in for Medicaid, some states are taking a tougher stanceAt least six states will require documentation that individuals are too sick to meet Medicaid work requirements kicking in next year. 000
