"Let them eat cake"

Legend has it that when Queen Marie Antoinette was told that the peasants had no bread to eat and were starving, she glibly replied, “Let them eat cake”. The French Revolution ensued.

While history has debated the veracity of this quote, “Let them eat cake” has become short hand for the insensitivity of the ruling class to the struggles of the common people.

Here in the US in 2025, we are having our own “Let them eat cake” moment.

Since the federal government has shut down, funding for SNAP has run out. The SNAP program provides food security for more than 40 million Americans. President Trump could have released emergency funds to keep the program afloat temporarily. Instead, he chose to go to court and argue AGAINST doing so. Two federal courts have ordered him to release the emergency funds, which he is in no hurry to do.

Meanwhile, President Trump has literally bulldozed the East Wing of the White House to create space for an outsized, gilded ballroom. He has been posting and boasting on social media about the renovation of the White House’s Lincoln bathroom, which is now outfitted with the finest marble and fixtures. And then there is the Gilded Age- themed Halloween party he hosted at Mar-a-Lago. Let them eat cake, indeed.

Millions of Americans will suffer from food insecurity and lack of health care while our President surrounds himself with the trappings of wealth and luxury at our expense. Congress, including our own Rep. Mike Lawler has been literally absent and silent about these developments. (More than 18,000 households in Lawler’s district receive SNAP benefits). Out of touch, indifferent, or just plain cruel?