SNAP is the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (commonly called ‘food stamps’).
These days there are credit card looking “EBT” (electronic benefit transfer) cards given to beneficiaries of the program. That way instead of the shame of having the ‘stamps’ like the old days and so the stamps wouldn’t become a currency, the debit card requires the user to present their ID and it’s run like a credit card.
EBT is the common reference now for ‘food stamps’ with benefits being from 100-700 a month depending on the number of dependents in the family and income (if any).
So the money will stop and shoppers will be told, as they were the past few days, “The system is down.” Or a sign at the door, “We no longer accept food stamps.”
This is if the CURRENT state of affairs continues. The ‘shutdown’ is being made more severe to cause more pressure on the GOP to cave. Parks and monuments weren’t enough.
I’m in IT. When I see the letter in the op and see the problems people are having with EBT cards, it is pretty obvious that changes are being released into prod to handle this - and the changes are buggy. Kinda like Obamacare.
This could ger REALLY ugly. I’ve said for years that the dependent class will burn down their own neighborhood if they feel empowered by not getting their entitlement. Look what they did after the Rodney King verdict when they felt entitled by an event that did not even directly affect them. If their cards stop working, they will ransack stores for what they are “rightly entitled to” all over the country.
I don’t know how big it will get, but it really could become CWII of a sort and force martial law. And considering the power this would give the president, it might be just what they want. I need my CCW NOW!
That means they should print the food stamps in fluorescent colors, and as large as a newspaper.
Maybe set off a loud alarm when they are presented.