Transcript

4.20.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Happy Monday, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post for this Monday, April twentieth. As you know,
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RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton.
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And as you know, usually on Monday's we start by
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reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington Hail Leader.
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But Paul didn't have one yesterday, so let's jump right
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to the news of the day from the Washington Post.
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Our first article is oil prices jump after the United
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States seizes an Iranian vessel and periling that sees fire.
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Ran threatened to retaliate Monday after the US military seized
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an Iranian flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Omagh,
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sending oil prices soaring and further imperiling au CIEs fire.
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The seizure on Sunday came hours after President Trump renewed
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his threats and brought attacks on Ron's infrastructure if no
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deal is reached in talks expected this week. In Pakistan,
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oil prices jumped five percent overnight into Monday amid the
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escalating tensions, while stock markets in Europe were down before rallying.
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In a statement Monday, Ron's military command denounced the US
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seizure of the ship as an active hirasy already, and
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Foreign Minister spokesman Ismail Bakke sat at a news conference
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Monday that Tehran had not made any decisions regarding the
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next round of negotiations, according to the semi official Tasnum
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news agency. The White House said Sunday that Vice President
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j d Vance, Special Invoy Steve Whitkoff, and Trump's son
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in law Jared Kushner, departs Washington on Monday to ten
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fresh talks in Pakistan that could begin on Tuesday. The
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two week ceasefire is due to expire Wednesday. The seizure
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Sunday marked the first shipboarding by US forces since Washington's
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naval blockade took effect April thirteenth, as part of Trump's
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effort to exert pressure on Tehran. As of Sunday, twenty
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five vessels had been turned back, said US Central Command,
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which oversees military operations in the Middle East. It posted
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video overnight that said it showed marines transiting by helicopter
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over the Arabian Sea to repelled down onto and seized
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the Tuscat, owned by an Iranian company that the United
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States is accused of procuring material for Tehran's ballistic missile program.
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Trumpet earlier accused Iron of violating the ceasefire by once
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again closing the strait on Saturday. After a very brief
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reopening brought hope for an end of the war, two
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ships reported attacks from Iran while attempting to cross Syncom
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said the seizure came after six hours of warnings to
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the Iranian vessel to turn back. The ship instead continued
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moving quickly through the northern part of the Arabian Sea,
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it said, at which the point the USS Spruance repeatedly
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warned the vessel to evacuate its engine room. We are
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preparing to subject you to disabling fire. A voice from
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the spruance warned the Tuska, before a horn sounded, and
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then at least three rounds are fired the vessel. According
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to a video posted online by Senkom, the Spruance's attack
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on the vessel used its five inch gun, which disabled
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the engines but did not sink the vessel. Senkam said
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the Marines then boarded the ship and took custody of it.
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US forces have been preparing for the possibility of seizures
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for days, said an official who spoke on the condition
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of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations. The
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Marines are with the thirty first Expeditionary Unit of Okinawa, Japan,
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which arrived in the region aboard a three ship naval
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task force in March. The Tuska is part of the
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Islamic Republic of Iran's shipping lines, a state owned company
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ACRONYMRISL and under US, British and European Union sanction that
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has been described by the US State Department as the
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preferred shipping line for Iranian profiteers and pureman agents. The Tusca,
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which can carry up to around four thousand, eight hundred
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twenty foot long containers, had been traveling back from a
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Chinese chemical storage port laden with cargo, according to the
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AIS data provided by the global intelligence company Kepler. The
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Gaol in part is in Zuzai, a city on China's
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southeastern coast. Experts previously told The Washington Post that it
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is a known loading port for chemicals, including sodium percolate,
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a key precursor for solid rocket fuel that iron needs
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for its missile program. Although it is not immediately clear
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what materials were on this ship, AIS data shows the
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ship appeared to be intercepted around thirty miles south off
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the coast of Iran. Trump said earlier Sunday that US
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representatives are returning to Pakistan for negotiations during the war
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with Iran, though it remains unclear whether Tehran will agree
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to send any representatives. We're offering a very fair and
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reasonable deal, and I hope they take it, because if
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they don't, the United States is going to knock out
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every single power plant, every single bridge in Iran. No more,
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mister Niskat, Trump wrote on truth Social Ara. Indian state
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media reported Sunday that Tehran has rejected second round of talks.
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Ron's absence from the talks, the reporter said, was a
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result of Washington's successive demands, unrealist expectations, constant shift's stance,
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repeated contradictions, ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach
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of the cease fire. In a Sunday call with his
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Pakistani counterpart, Ranian foreign Minister Abbas Arigichi described recent US
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actions as indications of a lack of seriousness and diplomacy,
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but both ministers emphasized the continuation of consultations. It was
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not immediately clear whether a decision not to attend was final.
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Similar statements were made by Iranian officials in the lead
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up the first round of negotiations, which were also held
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in Pakistan. Trump said the US would continue the blockade
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until there is a peace deal. Energy Secretary Chris Wright
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told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, and it's
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not safe to go through the strait of horror moves
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right now, but that people are ready to go once
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the deal is reached. Ships are there. The United States
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put two warships through the street, and we can open
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it one way or the other, right said, the best
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way is to do it, to have an end to
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the conflict and a defanged and dearmed Iran. In the
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Pakistani capital, there were signs that the city was tightening
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security some of the buildings expected to host the second
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round of talks. Roads leading in and out of Islamabad's
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diplomatic enclave were shut. The Serena Hotel, where the first
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meeting was held, is clearing rooms for the talks, asking
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guests to leave by Sunday. Afternoon. The US advanced team
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has already made it to Islamabad, said a diplomat familiar
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with the matter. A ten day season between Israel and
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the militant group Hezbolah and Lebanon began on Friday and
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helped facilitateor On's brief reopening of the street. Israeli and
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Lebanese media reported apparent violations, and the Israeli military published
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a map Sunday delineating a buffer zone in southern Lebanon
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that it called a forward defense line. Said five military brigades,
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along with naval forces, are operating in those areas to
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dismantle Hezbolah infrastructure. The next story where US science has
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been hit hardest after Trump's first year. Every night, Catherine
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Burns wakes up in a sweat. It feels like the
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world's closing in on her. Burns, forty seven, runs a
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laboratory at the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine focused
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on indometrio, a stigmatized, poorly understood gynological disease. She's not
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just intrigued by the complex interplay of the immune system
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and hormones that drive intometriosis, but it is one of
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the millions of women who have it, suffering years of misdiagnosis,
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walck out levels of pain and infertility. She's haunted by
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a terrifying process and prospect the end of her research.
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President Trump's administration rocked the American research enterprise over this
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last year with disruptions and changes to the historically reliable
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stream of federal funding that fuelded science pre eminence. While
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courts and Congress have stopped some of the harshest cuts,
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newer projects from moving forward, labs such as the one
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Burn's leads are running on fumes. American science is shrinking.
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Washington Host analysis found that through March thirty, first half
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way through the fiscal year, the number of competitive grants
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awarded by the National Institutes of Health is down by
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more than half compared with the same period last year.
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Biomedical funding has undergone also a shift. The analysis found,
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cutting that US research put print across nearly every major
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disease area, including fewer grants focused on women's health, cancer,
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and mental health. Overall, the NIH supported over two thousand,
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seven hundred fewer scientific projects in fiscal year twenty five,
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about a fifteen percent cut the number of competitive grants
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compared with the previous fiscal year. In Burnsfield Women's Health,
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there was a thirty one percent drop in the number
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of projects funded in twenty twenty five that included the
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word women after years of steady growth and competitive awards.
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It's very hard. It's very emotional for me because I've
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worked so hard to get to this point. Burn said,
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I've worked and dedicated who I am to this because
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I have the disease. We really made some strides, We
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really made some sacrifices to keep this going. I like
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the grant terminations targeted at research that conflicted with administration priorities,
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such as DEI programs. The delays and changes to federal
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funding are having a broader impact. Andrew Nixon, a spokesman
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for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in
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an email that the Democrat led shutdown late last year
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was responsible for delays and that the nih was catching up.
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The post analysis focused on competitive awards scientific projects competing
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for new funding, but the agency has been shown facing
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data that includes awards for grants that are being continued
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from a previous year, for which they are less far behind.
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Nixon added that the shift in how some grants are
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budgeted will help sustain long term research. Under this practice, researchers,
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especially those who are younger, will have more funding, stability,
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and early funds to build needed laboratory or other infrastructure
13:31
next and said. Last month, NIH Director Jay Batachara told
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the House Appropriations Committee that the agency, as he did
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last year, would catch up and spend its entire budget.
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Scientists are listening, don't pay any attention to the hide,
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he said. We are in the process have identifying the
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excellent projects. The grants are already going out the door,
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but administrators at research universities have been anxiously watching the
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numbers and struggling through admissions, hiring decisions that have to
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be made amid a host of unknowns. A large portion
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of grant money goes to support trainees and labs, so
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when funding dries up, every kind of young scientist is affected.
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Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, research staff, assistant professors at the
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University of Wisconsin at Madison and John ad Huja, a
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senior Associate dean for Basic Research, biotechnology, and Graduate Studies
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at the School of Medicine and Public Health, said he
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has been monitoring federal funding very very very closely. The
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university has been providing bridge funds to some labs so
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they don't lose people. He added that stop gap continue
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indefinitely and it's having a significant impact on their youngest
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faculty members. Julia said the grant success rate of early
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stage investigators dropped from about twenty six percent in fiscal
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year twenty four to about nineteen percent the next year,
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a significant loss for young scientists, and the delays this
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year are disrupting a system that institutions and laboratories have
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relied on for decades. When we get these sort of
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changes that take place, it's very anxiety producing because it
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creates that uncertainty where historically we've had enormous certainty. He said.
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The downsizing of American research is not happening all at once.
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Many labs are dwindling by attrition. Students postdoctoral research leave
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and their positions are filled. A highly skilled technician has
16:05
laid off. Many research universities are admitting fewer PhD students,
16:11
narrowing the very beginning of the pipeline of new scientists.
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These decisions are slower and harder to track, more like
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a balloon that gradually deflates and shrivels instead of one
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of the pops. At Case Western Reserve University, which has
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made a strong push to rapidly grow its research capacity
16:36
in recent years, Michael Oakes said he worries about the
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next generation of sciences and engineers remaining optimistic about what
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they can accomplish. My worry is faculty here or elsewhere
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will get dejected, said Oaks, the university's executive vice president
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for Research and Economic Development. Burns has been furiously applying
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for grants, making every effort to keep her lab alive,
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including putting her own money into supporting the science. Funding
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has always been hard won, and her lab began to
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struggle a year and a half ago, but the system
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was predictable. Rejection was part of the process, but she
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could hone ideas, improve it and try again. It's only
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in the last year that it has really seemed to
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get more stringent and worse. Burn said. It's much more
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daunting because before it was almost like if you did this,
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and you did that and this, then you could probably
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get funded. That rule book is gone. The abrupt changes
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are hitting scientists from several directions, making it harder to plan.
17:54
Dissatisfied with certain universities over, for instance, how they handled
17:58
their DEI policies or how they treated protests against the
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Israel Israeli Guyza war. The administration witheld research funding to
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force the institutions to change shock that showed how fragile
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is funding stream is. Separately, the NIH has been making
18:18
changes to funding policies, of which have had reasonable justifications,
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but are being implemented in a way that amplifies ongoing
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uncertainty and turbulence. One of these is a shift in
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its budgeting strategy that began last year. In past, most
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grants would be paid out year by year, but the
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NIH now awards more grantees their entire multi year budget
18:46
up front, dramatically reducing the number of grants that the
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agency gives out during the transition. Dixon, the HHS spokesman,
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pointed out that inio, spending on research project grants increased
19:03
last year by three percent. The agency is also eliminating
19:08
pay lines cutoffs that previously gave sciences confidence that if
19:14
their grant was ready to above a certain score, they
19:16
would receive funding. Pay Lines guide funding decisions to different
19:21
degrees across the NIH and aren't a guarantee, but they
19:26
serve as valuable guide posts for scientists navigating intense competition.
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Christian Cappuccini, director of the University of Wisconsin's Carbone Cancer Center,
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said the lack of a strict payline program officers greater's
19:42
discretion is certainly also introducing angst. When there was an
19:49
established pay line, principal investigators could start making plans, hiring
19:54
people and making purchases confident able to receive a grant
19:59
even if the funding wasn't yet in hand. Now, people
20:04
are more likely to wait until the new system in
20:09
IH will consider the whole application instead of boiling it
20:13
down to a single average number that will not always
20:16
be representative of scientific merit. Since it this model is
20:22
more likely to fund high risk, high reward research and
20:26
will result in new funding, innovative research in the short
20:32
term is made to scramble for grant funding uncertain and
20:35
less transparent. Rebecca Shansky, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University who
20:42
studies sex differences in behavior and brain function, submitted to
20:47
grant at the end of twenty twenty four and got
20:50
to score that was likely God's certain to be funded.
20:56
Then the advisory accounts said that it was set to
21:00
make a difunding decision, and it was canceled and postponed.
21:03
After Trump came into office, many scientists proposals stalled, and
21:09
they watched with confusion as the agency they rely on
21:13
to fuel their research was hit with personnel cuts and turmoil.
21:17
The post analysis showed science agencies lost more jobs than
21:22
the overall federal government average. Shansky had to let go
21:27
one of her technicians. A student graduated, but she did
21:31
not fill the position. At the end of April, she'll
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lose another technician. Running a lab is like operating a
21:39
small business, and Shansky scrambled to bolster her budget to
21:44
save a postdoctoral researcher. Last year, she agreed to become
21:48
the chair of the psychology apartment, which came with some
21:52
additional funding. All the delays and things, you can keep trying,
21:58
but at a certain point point you have to pay
22:01
the people in your lab, and you have to buy things.
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Shansky said. It's horrible all the people I've been training
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in those careers I feel responsible for are falling apart.
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It's really heartbreaking. Just learned that another grant proposal that
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got a score that would have had a high probability
22:18
of getting funded in past years, won't go forward. Nothing
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else comes through this year. She's facing a grim reality.
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We're probably done, Chansky said. Next, Soaring jet fuel prices
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and shortages could threaten your European vacation. Air travel in
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Europe could turn chaotic this summer as a serious jet
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fuel shortage and supply disruptions caused by the war in
22:48
Iran are expected to linger for months, regardless of whether
22:52
the straight of horn Moves's choke point is finally open. Efficiency,
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the head of the International Energy Agency this week said
22:59
Europe and only about six weeks of jet fuel supply
23:02
on hand. The warning was echoed by European and Asian
23:06
airline executives at a recent airline industry conference in Barcelona,
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said Richard Mann, president of the aviation consulting firm rw
23:15
Man and Company. The jet fuel shortage will not stop
23:19
all planes from flying, but holidaymakers and vacation seekers overseas
23:24
could face widespread flight cancellations as European airlines struggle to
23:29
support a full flight schedule during the busy summer period.
23:33
European flights are usually books solid in June, July and
23:36
to early August, and there's no slack in the system.
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Even fuel shortages can be avoided. Airline fare prices both
23:46
overseas and in the United States are expected to continue
23:49
to climb. The reality is that it's not a day's
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or week's issue. It's a months and years issue. Man said.
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There will be some disruption, there's just a question of
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how much. Now. The jet fuel picture is less dire
24:05
for American airlines flying domestically, but the world's oil market
24:10
has been reeling since the start of the US and
24:12
Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. Some officials have described it
24:16
as the largest shock to oil prices in history. The
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price of brint crew, the global oil benchmark, jumped by
24:24
about fifty percent before falling back some. The average price
24:28
for the US gas pumps is about thirty five percent
24:31
higher than in late February, adding about a dollar to
24:35
each gallon. Cost of the US jet fuel is up
24:39
about fifty percent since the war began, according to Argus
24:42
US Jet Fuel Index. Surging price of jet fuel has
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hit airlines hard. Jet fuel typically makes up twenty five
24:51
to thirty five percent of an airline's operating cost. Stephen Rooney,
24:56
lead economist Tourism Economics, wrote in an analyst note here.
25:00
This month, airlines have raised prices and response airlines have
25:05
raised fares on some routes anywhere from ten to fifty percent,
25:09
said Dan bub a professor in residence at the University
25:13
of Nevada, Las Vegas and a commercial aviation expert. We're
25:18
going into busy season right now, Bub said. Opening up
25:21
a straight won't return things to normal right away, me
25:26
a long time before they resettle the normal. Airlines are
25:31
also struggling to deal with how quickly the price of
25:33
jet fuel sword Travelers who bought tickets months ago can't
25:38
suddenly be charged more. Some airlines have responded by hiking
25:43
prices for bagging, baggage fees, and seat selection. Joe Brucellus,
25:49
chief economis RSM, called bag fees and the like fuel
25:54
search charges by another name. Once those rates go up,
25:58
they rarely come back down. But compared to the rest
26:03
of the world, American carriers and their customers are relatively
26:06
insulated the rising jet fuel costs. Ursulus said. The United
26:11
States is ultimately a jet fuel exporter, so into trade
26:15
partners as far as way as Australia. Meanwhile, American industries
26:20
can draw from domestic production to mitigate weeks, if not
26:23
months and crisis. But the risks don't vanish altogether. Coming days,
26:29
the last jet fuel shipments that are already at sea
26:33
when the war began will arrive on the West coast,
26:35
shifting resistance and reliance to traffic flowing straight. Some regions
26:41
are inherently more vulnerable to conflicts in the middle least
26:44
than others. When ran effectively shot off the straight of
26:47
Horn moves. For example, some twenty five to thirty of
26:51
Europe's jet fuel got blocked off room, he said. Some
26:55
European carriers are already have prices locked in, giving them
26:58
some breathing room. Still others have been forced to pass
27:02
costs on to customers and cancel hundreds of flights. Meanwhile,
27:07
on the Gulf, carriers like Cutter Airways, Emirates and Illy
27:11
hod Lean on ropebust cash reserves to buffer against rising
27:15
costs in the near term, but they in turn are
27:20
exposed to long haul traffic where fuel makes up a
27:24
bigger chunk of a ticket price. Still, in the United
27:28
States and elsewhere, people are expected to keep flying. While
27:32
this will deter some of the most priced sensitive travelers.
27:35
When he wrote, it's not expected to derail an otherwise
27:39
positive growth trajectory for global air passenger to man this
27:42
year outside of the Middle East in Africa. Bob at
27:47
UNLB City was most worried about how higher prices would
27:51
affect recreational travelers, such as families on summer vacation. Some
27:57
of them may delay or cancel their plans, or they
28:02
might cut back on spending in other areas, It's going
28:06
to affect everyone. Bub said, all of this is so interconnected,
28:12
there's going to be a cascading effect. Some people commenting
28:16
on their own travel plans. A person that Houston says
28:21
Americans planning a vacation abroad may want to reconsider, regardless
28:25
of the airline. The welcome matt over there has Warren Thin.
28:30
Another one says, a view from my front porch, Amazon
28:34
Prime and trucks and birds. I think I'll stay put.
28:39
The next one, you're saying a European vacation may become unaffordable.
28:44
You know what else is unaffordable? Electric gas, gasoline groceries,
28:50
you name it. Another one says comments express widespread dissatisfaction
28:55
with the administration's policies. Another one shortage of jet fuel
29:01
is a failure to understand to be expected consequences. One
29:06
contributor is a drive toward electrification of the vehicular transportation system.
29:12
That means that refiners had to respond to demand reductions
29:15
by diversifying products away from diesel and glasoline toward chemical feedstocks.
29:21
Same response means that kerosene and jet fuels likely fell
29:26
by the wayside. They chose the globalization solution, while for example,
29:32
aiming to be agriculturally more efficient. Finally, all will all
29:38
eventually get the bill for the unnecessary war. The next
29:44
story kitcat, gatorador, granola bars. What's banned under new SNAP
29:51
rules is mixed across the country. Retailers and low income
29:57
Americans are facing complex new rules overhauling what millions of
30:02
people can buy with food stamps. In Iowa, anti hunger
30:07
advocates recently sought to highlight how some cold sandwiches and
30:12
granola bars may not qualify. In Idaho, legislatures had attempted
30:18
to clarify the state's candy ban since it allows kitkats
30:23
and twigs because they contain flour. And in some states,
30:28
food stamp recipients say they were surprised to learn sports
30:31
drinks and certain flavored fizzy waters are off limits. As
30:37
Health Secretary of Robert F. Kennedy Junior and his allies
30:40
seek to tackle the widespread rate of chronic diseases cause
30:44
Americans to die earlier. They argue federal dollars shouldn't help
30:49
people that buy products increasingly linked to poor health and obesity.
30:55
Tromp administration officials had push states to bar the use
30:59
of food stamp for soda and candy, Yet rolling out
31:04
the changes to the nation's largest food assistance program has
31:08
led to a complicated and at times counterintuitive maze of
31:12
new restrictions. According to more than two dozen interviews with
31:16
the trade groups for independent grocers and convenience stores, store owners,
31:21
anti hunger advocates, SNAP participants, and others. So far, nearly
31:28
two dozen states, most of which lean Republican, have received
31:33
federal approval to make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
31:39
As a Monday, ten states have implemented their own approaches
31:42
to the new restrictions. In interviews, some SNAP recipients expressed
31:49
support for the changes, while others said they felt stigmatized
31:54
because they're poor. Some participants have joined recent lawsuits seeking
32:00
to halt the changes in five states, arguing the rules
32:05
are unlawful, complicated, program vulnerable Americans rely on and Hanson,
32:13
a single mom of four girls, glanced at a receipt
32:17
from a recent trip to Fairway in West Des Moines, Iowa,
32:21
and began to tick off items. Her food stamps didn't
32:25
cover her sweetened wild cherry sparkling water or semi sweet
32:30
chocolate chips for bacon, but paid for some ultra processed items.
32:36
The biggest surprise to me is in chips and cookies.
32:39
The stuff is still covered, said Hanson, who works as
32:43
a special education associated at a high school and receives
32:47
five hundred and ninety seven dollars a month in food stamps.
32:51
She has been buying less soda and candy since the
32:54
restrictions went into effect, she said, but doesn't understand the
32:59
rationale behind some of the decisions. Some retailers are taking
33:05
different approaches. What specifically it means and what items no
33:09
longer qualify for SNAP, meaning what is eligible varies not
33:14
only by state by state, but potentially store by store.
33:20
Some grocers are purposely being more restrictive to make sure
33:24
that they don't lose their SNAP license, while others are
33:28
trying to be more exact, sind Stephanie Johnson, the group
33:32
vice president of Government Relations at the National Grocer's Association,
33:37
which represents independent grocers. The uneven rollout reveals the tensions
33:44
over how to define healthy foods, provide a nutritious and
33:47
affordable diet, and enact systemic change. It comes as Kennedy
33:54
is focusing his message on food and nutrition ahead of
33:57
the midterms instead of his content proversial vaccine overhaul. Secretary
34:04
Kennedy has been very clear that we will support efforts
34:08
by states to pursue snap waivers that prioritize healthier food options.
34:15
Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and
34:18
Human Services, in the statement, the goal to empower families
34:24
with better access to nutritious foods and to board a
34:28
healthier future. Trump officials have met with food industry groups
34:33
and others where they have reiterated support for the waivers.
34:38
According to an administration official who spoke on the condition
34:41
of anonymity, the administration is offered to work with the
34:45
industry on creating federal standards, which the official said the
34:50
industry rejects. In February, in a rally in Austin, Kennedy
34:56
asked the crowd why the government is paying for soda
34:59
and candy for ports children. If somebody wants to buy
35:03
a coke in this country, they ought to be able
35:06
to do it. The taxpayer shouldn't have to fund it.
35:09
For children, we're giving them diabetes when the player're paying
35:14
for it. The whole system is insane. The US Department
35:20
of Agriculture, which overseas SNAP at the federal level, has
35:25
never before proved such sweeping restriction, but that's because nobody's asked.
35:32
In twenty eleven, federal officials rejected New York Mayor Mike
35:37
Bloomberg's attempt to buy purchasing sweetens sugar beverages with food stamps,
35:43
partly fearing the scale of the proposal was too large
35:47
and complex. During President Trump's first term, the USDA denied
35:53
Main's effort to buy candy and sugary drinks the anti
35:59
hunger community. He broadly opposes the measures, arguing they punish
36:04
the poor, but nutritionalists and nutrition advocates have mixed opinions.
36:10
Some expressed skepticism amid Republican cuts to the nutrition programs
36:15
for SNAP recipients. As well as expanded work requirements. Others
36:22
say they have long sought to test SNAP changes and
36:26
want to see data showing whether new rules impact cousts
36:30
consumer behavior and improve health. I can argue that really,
36:37
anybody who wants to be healthier should be drinking sugar
36:41
sweetened beverages, and taxpayers should not be paying for sugar
36:46
sweetened beverages for anybody, said Marion Nessel, a retired professor
36:52
of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University.
36:59
But she added, also I can argue it the other way,
37:03
that it's demeaning. It stigmatizes low income people. States have
37:09
been given permission to pilot the program for two years.
37:14
This is all a test at this point, said a
37:17
senior USDA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
37:23
It's been talked about for many years, and we have states,
37:26
both Democrat and Republican, that came up with these plans,
37:30
and so we're watching their test in real time. In
37:35
choosing to seek the changes, states told the USDA they
37:39
would provide federal officials with quarterly updates, generally consisting of
37:44
the monthly number of complaints and complainants and compliments. SNAP
37:49
dollars spent out of state and wherever possible retailored data
37:53
on shopping cart transactions. Brian Elbell, a professor populated health
38:00
at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, noted
38:05
that for most SNAP participants, the program doesn't cover all
38:08
their monthly groceries. He said he hoped states analyze whether
38:14
recipients instead pay for restricted items with their own money
38:18
or whether they switch to healthier foods, as well as
38:21
how individual stores implement the changes. You really do need
38:26
to be on the ground in these communities, in these
38:29
stores to really understand and see how it's being implemented.
38:33
El Bill said. Several SNAP recipients describe frustration, particularly for
38:40
paying out a pocket for gatorade and other drinks with electrolytes,
38:44
they said they often give their children when they're secret dehydrated.
38:49
Tory Langdon, who participates in a network the nonprofit Hunger
38:54
Free Oklahoma created to help those experiencing food in security
38:58
with advocacy efforts, said that she got rejected for some
39:03
of the things that I was going to buy that
39:04
I had to put back. It's just really embarrassing you
39:08
don't have the money to cover something. Others expressed support
39:13
for the new rules, saying the changes haven't bothered them.
39:17
April Hardy of Polk City, Iowa, said she'd stop drinking
39:21
soda before the new restrictions kicked in on January first.
39:26
Hardy works in a daycare center and said many of
39:28
the foods she buys her children with three hundred and
39:31
twenty four dollars a monthly benefits still qualified. I'm hoping
39:36
it's going to be for the best, party, said. All
39:39
of the twenty two states approved for federal waivers all
39:42
have restricted certain drinks. Fourteen states have also limited candy.
39:50
In Utah, state lawmakers initially sought to bar both soda
39:55
and candy, but the industry was concerned about the deaf
40:00
an isition of candy, and legislatures could not settle on one,
40:05
so instead, they decided the bill would focus on soft drinks,
40:09
defined as a flavored drink that has carbonated water and
40:13
it is sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. According to
40:17
state Representative Christian Chevier, a Republican, the legislation is now
40:23
studying on how to expand the pilot program to also
40:26
include ultra processed foods. I understand people want their candy
40:33
and they want their soda, she said, but it's not
40:36
building health, and the mission of the program is to
40:39
build health. In Oklahoma, Katie Pahacki combined combed through a
40:47
state provided list of thousands of products no longer eligible
40:51
for SNAP. She paused at a certain item, grappling with
40:57
how she should update her point of sale system them
41:00
for her Healthy Corner store. In some instances, she made
41:04
quick judgment calls. If she carried a product similar to
41:09
one on the list but with a different label, she
41:11
deemed it ill ineligible. Stakes are high a store who
41:16
potentially lose its ability to accept food stamps. The Hockey,
41:21
who founded and runs RG Foods, a Tulsa based nonprofit
41:25
and runs several small grocery stores in underserved areas. She
41:30
estimated SNAP benefits cover sixty percent of overall sales. We
41:36
just want to make sure that we protect our SNAP
41:38
permit because our customers rely we rely on to get
41:42
that food, she said. Oklahoma is one of several states
41:46
that distributed lists of product codes for newly ineligible items,
41:51
but as a small retailer, the Hockey said it was
41:54
still complicated to pour through and update her systems. States
42:00
did not share specific lists. Indiana officials said doing so
42:05
would be inaccurate and impractical, as such codes frequently change.
42:11
Third party companies have stepped in to create lists and
42:15
sell them to retailers for up to thousands of dollars.
42:20
West Virginia said it was cost prohibitive to purchase a
42:24
one time list of ineligible items to give the retailers.
42:29
The price was one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, according
42:34
to a spokeswoman for the state's Human Services Department. Large
42:38
retailers the changes may be easier to manage. Fair Way,
42:43
a Midwest grocery chain, said it's confident in its compliance
42:48
with the rules and was able to sort through the
42:51
changes in Iowa and Nebraska. Iowa's rules are considered one
42:56
of the most sweeping. Food and drinks subject to sales
43:00
tax are generally no longer eligible to be purchased with
43:04
SNAP benefits, making it easier for retailers but creating a
43:09
labyrinth for food stamp recipients to navigate. For instance, whether
43:15
coal sandwiches are eligible depend on a variety of factors.
43:19
Two retailers and a state group of industry leaders told
43:24
The Washington Post that pediolite is no longer eligible. O
43:30
FW Law Principal Stuart Fryed, who represents retailers on SNAP
43:36
related issues, faulted the USDA for not establishing uniform definitions
43:42
for candy and soda. This has created massive confusion across
43:48
the entire contree. The Department did not set nationwide standards,
43:55
a senior Agricultural Department official set in part because states
44:00
run their own programs and allowing for differentiation will help
44:05
USDA evaluate what works. The agencies that administer SNAP in Idaho,
44:12
West Virginia, Indiana, Texas, Iowa, and Utah said they engage
44:20
with retailers throughout the process. Some states said they gave
44:25
retailer flyers that could post in the stores, hosted office
44:30
hours and conference calls, and invited store operators to share
44:34
any concerns or now. The Agriculture depart said it is
44:40
working with retailers not penalizing minor and adverting mistakes as
44:46
stores navigate significant technical challenges associated with these bold innovative waivers.
44:54
After a ninety day runway, enforcement which can include a
44:58
warning letter, has gone into these five different states. Mark Craig,
45:04
an Iowa food stamp recipient, who was recently homeless and
45:09
works as an uber. Each driver has been documenting his
45:13
experience with changes. He is one of the plaintiffs in
45:17
the lawsuit challenging the state's changes. It says, you're supposed
45:22
to show proof of how it improves health, Craig said,
45:26
hod is limiting me getting a healthy sandwich and letting
45:31
me eat cookies and cake make me healthier and the
45:35
next story. Trump administration warms to the IMF and World
45:40
Bank in a rare nod to global bodies. One year
45:47
after Treasury Secretary of Scott Descent publicly blasted the International
45:52
Monetary Fund and the World Bank for deviating from their
45:56
core missions in favor of trendier pursuits, the two global
46:01
bodies have worked their way back into the America First
46:04
administration's good graces. Other multi national institutions, including the North
46:11
Atlantic Treaty Organization, remained targets for President Trump's slashing social
46:17
media posts, but the two financial organizations have avoided the
46:22
president's are by adapting to his demands, an evolution that
46:26
was on display last week during the annual Spring meetings
46:30
of the IMF and the World Bank. The turnaround is
46:34
striking and in April twenty twenty five speech, the SUNT
46:39
assailed the Fund for dabbling in climate change, gender and
46:43
social issues or rather than monitoring the global economy, and
46:48
accused the Bank of pursuing vapid, buzzword centric initiatives. The
46:54
SUNT said last week and struck a much different tone,
46:58
speaking to a financial indust grew, saying both institutions were
47:02
back on track. The shift illustrates the malleable contours Trump's
47:09
brand of economic nationalism. Normally allergic to anything at smacks
47:15
of globalism, the administration has warmed to these pillars of
47:19
the global system created under the US auspices more than
47:23
eighty years ago. Having a large pool of capital, both
47:28
at the Bank and at the Fund, available to advance
47:32
your specific narrow interests in some cases and your broader
47:35
global financial stability interests without dipping into US taxpayer's funds,
47:41
turns out to be a good thing, said Douglas Reddicker,
47:45
chairman of the International Capital Strategies, which advises international investors
47:51
for the Trump administration. The retooled Washington based institutions have
47:58
proved valuable in the world's of both diplomatic nuance and
48:02
hard finance. They have amplified US complaints about how Chinese
48:08
exports distort the global economy, and buttressed nations that could
48:13
be destabilized by the war in Iran, such as Pakistan, Egypt,
48:17
and Jordan. All of this comes at a relative bargain.
48:23
US financial backing for the IMF carries no annual budgetary cost,
48:28
according to the Congressional Budget Office. The President has proposed
48:33
sending eight hundred and sixty seven million dollars in the
48:37
fiscal year that began that begins October first for the
48:41
International Development Association, the World Bank's lending arm for the
48:46
world's poorest nations. Under pressure from the administration, the IMF
48:53
and the World Bank have modified their policies, de emphasizing
48:57
issues that irk the President, such as eliminating checks and
49:01
taking steps to support key US foreign policy objectives in
49:05
places like Argentina and Ukraine. The World Bank last year
49:11
abandoned its long standing refusal to finance nuclear power development
49:17
and moved closer to the Trump administrations preferred all of
49:21
the above energy policy making room for fossil fuels, including coal.
49:29
On Thursday, the IMF said it would have resumed dealing
49:32
with Venezuela after a seven year break, effectively recognizing the
49:38
organizing of the government of President Delsi Rodriguez, who assumed
49:43
power following the US capture of former President Nikulas Maduro
49:47
in January. I think they understand the US point of view.
49:53
I think there was some inertia and some weeding to
49:56
do of those programs, Basent told reporters this week, but
49:59
I I think we're very aligned now. Both institutions faced
50:05
challenges in the early months of Trump's second term. Project
50:09
twenty twenty five, the Heritage Foundation report that served as
50:14
a blueprint for many administration policies, called for the US
50:18
to withdraw from the IMF and the World Bank, saying
50:21
they were inimical to American free market and limited government principles.
50:28
The organizations were established at a nineteen forty four conference
50:32
in Breton Woods, New Hampshire, in an effort to avoid
50:36
the economic failures that led to the Second World War.
50:41
The IMF is tasked with preserving global financial stability, while
50:46
the Bank promotes economic development and fights poverty. For decades,
50:52
presidents from both parties have seen their work battling financial
50:56
crisis or impoverishment as being in the interest of the
50:59
United States, but US Complaints about the institution's lack of
51:04
focus have a long history. During the Biden administration, J. Chambaugh,
51:12
Treasuries Under Secretary for International Affairs, called for the Fund
51:17
to concentrate on its core mission of monitoring the global economy.
51:23
The IMF should not be experts on climate issues, he
51:28
said in a twenty twenty three speech. His predecessor in
51:33
the administration of President George W. Bush issued a similar plea.
51:38
The Fund too often had been asleep at the wheel
51:42
on its principal responsibility of calling out nations with currency
51:46
values that were higher or lower than justified, said Timothy Adams,
51:51
Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs. The Trump administration's
51:57
dissatisfaction has centered on the IMA and its managing director,
52:02
Bulgarian economist Chris Dalina Georgiriva. For expansion of the funds
52:09
remit to include lending designated to counter long term challenges
52:14
such as climate change drew particular criticism. The nearly fifty
52:20
billion dollar Resilience and Sustainability Trust was introduced in twenty
52:25
twenty two help low and middle income nations armor their
52:30
finances against economic shocks arising from climate related natural disasters.
52:38
New twenty year loan terms were seen at the Fund
52:41
as a key tool to enable nations to weather the unexpected,
52:46
but Bassan saw the novel financing scheme as a distraction
52:51
from the IMF's central role and from work that it
52:54
should have been done by the Bank. The Fund appears
52:58
to have gotten the message two years ago. In her
53:01
curtain raiser speech to kick off the annual Spring meetings,
53:05
Georgia Eva mentions climate six times, and this year's speech
53:11
the word appeared just once. Cristalina has gotten over her
53:17
skis and talking about climate and gender and inequality and whatnot.
53:22
I think basically she's made herself an easy target for bescent.
53:27
Now over the last year she stopped talking about climate.
53:31
It's kept the IMF beneath the radar screen, and she's
53:35
avoided poking the Trumpeton bear, said Mark Sobell, who spent
53:40
nearly forty years at Treasury, including as the US representative
53:45
to the IMF from twenty fifteen to eighteen. The Fund
53:49
also crafted some of its economic analysis with an eye
53:53
toward Washington. Analyst said this year its annual review of
53:58
the Chinese economy, known as Article four report, called for
54:03
a more forceful turn towards boosting domestic consumption, a step
54:08
the US has long urged to bring the global economy
54:12
into better balance and ease tension between China and its
54:16
major trading partners. This article forward was certainly an improvement
54:22
of the past two article fours. The Fund did highlight
54:25
the China is growing on the back of net exports,
54:29
and it did link that China's exchange rate policies, said
54:33
economist Brad Sster of the Council of Foreign Relations. In
54:39
response to questions, the IMF said that over the past year,
54:42
it has sought to address the administration's concerns, including by
54:47
sharpening its policy advice and supporting an orderly rebalancing of
54:51
the global economy. We have a very constructive engagement with
54:56
the US authorities, which we highly value, unspokesperson. In October,
55:03
the Cent dispatched to his Chief of Staff, Treasury Dan Katz,
55:07
to serve as the IMF's first deputy Managing Director. The
55:13
former Goldman Sachs investment banker acts as a highly effective
55:17
bridge between his current and former employers. Analyst sid Wild
55:22
Descent also criticized the World Bank last year. It was
55:26
easier for Anjay bunga who became the Bank's president in
55:30
twenty twenty three, to modify administration officials. The former Master
55:36
Card executive chairman is fluent in the language of business
55:41
that dissent and his boss appreciate. Even before Trump was
55:45
elected to a second term, Banga had begun overhauling the
55:50
bank's development portfolio to emphasize job creation rather than its
55:55
humanitarian endeavors. He met Bessin's criticism about Googauzi do gooderism
56:03
by championing a strategy that emphasize laying the groundwork with
56:07
infrastructure investment and support regulation to allow the private sector
56:12
to in borrow works of other nations to flourish. One example,
56:18
the Bank committed thirty billion dollars in lending the Mission
56:21
three hundred, an initiative design to provide electricity three hundred
56:26
million Africans by the year twenty thirty. Bonga also joined
56:31
Trump's Board of Peace, moved that many analysts saw as
56:35
illustrative of his desire to get in harnessed with the administration.
56:41
Coalition of nonprofit groups complained about what they saw as
56:44
an inappropriate political move, but the Bank said it was
56:48
mandated by a United Nations resolution on the post war
56:52
reconstruction of Gaza. The SCENT is pushing for additional changes.
56:58
Wants the Bank to eliminate specific targets for climate related financing,
57:03
increase lending for natural gas development, and refocused lending on
57:07
the poorest and most fragile countries rather than the better
57:10
off bar wars. He also liked to help diversify supply
57:15
chains for critical minerals beyond the near chokehold China. Now
57:20
employees the Treasury Secretary this week criticize the Bank's myopic
57:24
focus on climate financing. But there is a limit to
57:28
how much change can be driven by Washington. The Bank
57:31
is a demand driven institution, said Clement's Lenders, a former
57:35
World Bank official. If development nations seek financing for clean
57:40
energy products that offer strong financial returns, the Bank will
57:43
fund them. The Bank and a lot of other institutional
57:47
finances worldwide have been very good at changing a rhetoric
57:50
around This is no longer about green energy. It's about
57:53
energy independence, said Landers, now, vice president at the nonprofit
57:58
Center for Global Development. But at the end of the day,
58:01
a clean tech project is a clean tech project. You
58:05
can just change the nomenclacure. And this concludes the readings
58:11
of the Washington Post for today, Monday, April twentieth. Your
58:14
reader has been Rod Brotherton, and if you have questions, comments,
58:19
or suggestions concerning the program, please feel free to call
58:22
us at eight five nine four two two sixty three ninety.
58:26
Thank you as always for listening, and now please stay
58:30
tuned for continued programming right here on Radio I