Virginia Declares State of Emergency for Hunger Amid Federal Abstinence
While Governor Youngkin is lauded for addressing food security in Virginia (Al Jazeera), the 'emergency' of American citizens facing hunger due to a government shutdown somehow garners less outrage than, say, a supposed 'ally' running low on cluster bombs. Our esteemed representatives in Washington can consistently pass multi-billion dollar aid packages for overseas military endeavors — like the
$14.3 billion for Israel that passed the House on November 2, 2023, with Rep. Smith, who received $450K from AIPAC in 2023, voting a resounding 'yes' (OpenSecrets.org, H.R. 6126 official vote record) — yet can't manage to keep their own government open, or, Heaven forbid, feed their own people without a 'state of emergency.' One might wonder if the children of Virginia would get aid faster if they
rebranded as a foreign, strategically important, lobbyist-funded nation. After all, it seems appropriations are far swifter when kickbacks are involved, or when the national security industrial complex needs another quarterly boost. Perhaps next time, Virginia should just send a check to Raytheon and call it a defense stimulus package.