{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Libertarian Christian Podcast","title":"Should We End Food Stamps TOMORROW? with Patrick Carroll","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3595,"description":"Host Cody Cook sits down with Patrick Carroll, a sharp libertarian opinion journalist based near Toronto whose writing appears in outlets like the Mises Institute, Libertarian Institute, AIER, and FEE (where he once served as managing editor). Carroll's Substack, Against the Left, regularly dismantles progressive arguments from a free-market vantage point—and this conversation dives deep into one of his most provocative pieces: “Why SNAP Spending Should Be Cut Even If Charity Doesn’t Replace It.”The episode centers on the dramatic events of late 2025, when a record-breaking U.S. government shutdown stretched into its second month. By early November, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) faced a funding lapse. The Department of Agriculture announced that the roughly $100 billion annual program—serving about 42 million Americans, or one in eight—would not issue full November benefits. Chaos ensued: food banks reported overwhelming demand, long lines formed, and media stories highlighted desperate families suddenly without their usual grocery support.Left-leaning commentator Carl Beijer seized on the crisis in a Jacobin piece, declaring it definitive proof that private charity cannot substitute for state welfare. Overwhelmed pantries and panicked recipients, he argued, exposed the fantasy of market-based solutions replacing government safety nets.Carroll pushes back hard. He concedes the short-term strain on food banks but argues the episode reveals more about SNAP’s overreach than charity’s inadequacy. With little advance certainty (the shutdown’s duration remained a day-to-day uncertainty), private organizations had scant time to scale. Yet many still responded impressively—businesses like DoorDash offered free meals, churches and local groups rallied, and some food banks pivoted quickly. Had there been months of clear notice, Carroll contends, the charitable response would have been far stronger.More controversially, he...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/_xYS0SShA1KrKcrVFqXWyj90yhkxE6xSYO7xJUc6g9c/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ5Mjc2LzE3MDY3/MjA4ODgtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}