James Myall
@jamesxmyall.bsky.social
Maine-based economic policy analyst. British-American, recovering historian.
Posts are my own views, not my organization's.
Posts are my own views, not my organization's.
There’s good stuff in here but (unless I’m missing it), it’s disappointing not to see anything on rental assistance or construction of social housing. #mepolitics
mainemorningstar.com/2025/11/13/i...
mainemorningstar.com/2025/11/13/i...
If elected, Hannah Pingree pledges $100M annual investment in plan to address housing crisis • Maine Morning Star
Gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree on Thursday released her plan for improving Maine’s housing crisis. Pingree released her five-point plan to bolster affordable housing in the state at a press c...
mainemorningstar.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:08 PM
There’s good stuff in here but (unless I’m missing it), it’s disappointing not to see anything on rental assistance or construction of social housing. #mepolitics
mainemorningstar.com/2025/11/13/i...
mainemorningstar.com/2025/11/13/i...
With Trump admitting what we’ve all known for months - it makes no sense to tariff fruits we can’t grow in the US - I’ll keep an eye out for Rep Golden critiquing Trump for hurting Maine fishermen by letting foreign avocados compete for the omega-3 market #mepolitics
November 15, 2025 at 12:04 AM
With Trump admitting what we’ve all known for months - it makes no sense to tariff fruits we can’t grow in the US - I’ll keep an eye out for Rep Golden critiquing Trump for hurting Maine fishermen by letting foreign avocados compete for the omega-3 market #mepolitics
Making it harder to hire bus drivers when we know there's a shortage. Just senseless
www.mainepublic.org/immigration/...
www.mainepublic.org/immigration/...
Federal commercial driver license restrictions could affect over 100 immigrants in Maine
The Greater Portland Metro says 10% of its bus operators could lose their license under the new rule, though not all at once.
www.mainepublic.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Making it harder to hire bus drivers when we know there's a shortage. Just senseless
www.mainepublic.org/immigration/...
www.mainepublic.org/immigration/...
Maine Republicans refused to acknowledge any urgency when it came to making sure 170,000 Mainers had enough food through SNAP.
Now they have the bald-faced nerve to tell Mainers to address hunger by volunteering or giving to a food pantry.
#mepolitics
mainehousegop.org/newsroom/sup...
Now they have the bald-faced nerve to tell Mainers to address hunger by volunteering or giving to a food pantry.
#mepolitics
mainehousegop.org/newsroom/sup...
Supporting Our Neighbors Year-Round – Maine House Republicans
mainehousegop.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Maine Republicans refused to acknowledge any urgency when it came to making sure 170,000 Mainers had enough food through SNAP.
Now they have the bald-faced nerve to tell Mainers to address hunger by volunteering or giving to a food pantry.
#mepolitics
mainehousegop.org/newsroom/sup...
Now they have the bald-faced nerve to tell Mainers to address hunger by volunteering or giving to a food pantry.
#mepolitics
mainehousegop.org/newsroom/sup...
Inflation doesn’t just hit food and housing. It’s rampant in statistics on undocumented immigrants. 30 million? Cmon bro.
PS - what happens to housing costs when you deport 1 million+ construction workers?
PS - what happens to housing costs when you deport 1 million+ construction workers?
JD Vance: "A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens."
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Inflation doesn’t just hit food and housing. It’s rampant in statistics on undocumented immigrants. 30 million? Cmon bro.
PS - what happens to housing costs when you deport 1 million+ construction workers?
PS - what happens to housing costs when you deport 1 million+ construction workers?
Went to a restaurant last night that had a surcharge for card transactions and didn’t accept cash 🤔
November 14, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Went to a restaurant last night that had a surcharge for card transactions and didn’t accept cash 🤔
I’m often surprised how weak US party leaders are (Trump being a notable exception). If you crossed your leadership in a crucial vote in the UK, you’d probably be kicked out of the party. Here, Schumer just says he’s disappointed.
www.axios.com/2025/11/10/s...
www.axios.com/2025/11/10/s...
Scoop: Schumer privately fought to extend government shutdown
"We let him know what we were doing," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
www.axios.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:58 AM
I’m often surprised how weak US party leaders are (Trump being a notable exception). If you crossed your leadership in a crucial vote in the UK, you’d probably be kicked out of the party. Here, Schumer just says he’s disappointed.
www.axios.com/2025/11/10/s...
www.axios.com/2025/11/10/s...
Who amongst us hasn't thought about giving up work for that sweet $176 a month in SNAP benefits?
Trump claims that food stamps "puts the country in jeopardy. People that are able-bodied can do a job, they leave their job because they figure they can pick this up, it's easier."
November 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Who amongst us hasn't thought about giving up work for that sweet $176 a month in SNAP benefits?
"Everyone for themselves" is the conservative economic mantra, and it fails people time and again. Unions negotiate better wages than individuals. Social Security offers more retirement security than individual saving. And group health insurance is better than going it alone #mepolitics
Trump: "I want the money to go into an account for people where they buy their own health insurance. It's so good. The insurance will be better. It'll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They're gonna feel like entrepreneurs. They're actually able to go out & negotiate their own insurance"
November 11, 2025 at 1:35 AM
"Everyone for themselves" is the conservative economic mantra, and it fails people time and again. Unions negotiate better wages than individuals. Social Security offers more retirement security than individual saving. And group health insurance is better than going it alone #mepolitics
Reposted by James Myall
With talk of absurd GOP proposals to replace Marketplace tax credits with HSA contributions & require people to buy health services directly, this is just like a Project 2025 proposal to eliminate #Medicaid coverage & convert funding to vouchers/HSA contributions: ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/06/17/p...
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 PM
With talk of absurd GOP proposals to replace Marketplace tax credits with HSA contributions & require people to buy health services directly, this is just like a Project 2025 proposal to eliminate #Medicaid coverage & convert funding to vouchers/HSA contributions: ccf.georgetown.edu/2024/06/17/p...
Good news as SNAP benefits in Maine have begun arriving on people's cards on schedule #mepolitics
November 10, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Good news as SNAP benefits in Maine have begun arriving on people's cards on schedule #mepolitics
Reposted by James Myall
Urban #research shows that expanded #SNAP work requirements could lead to 2.7 million #families—and 5.4 million people—losing some or all of their monthly SNAP benefits. On average, affected families would see a monthly loss of $254 in food assistance.
Learn more. https://urbn.is/4hMj2Xj
Learn more. https://urbn.is/4hMj2Xj
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Urban #research shows that expanded #SNAP work requirements could lead to 2.7 million #families—and 5.4 million people—losing some or all of their monthly SNAP benefits. On average, affected families would see a monthly loss of $254 in food assistance.
Learn more. https://urbn.is/4hMj2Xj
Learn more. https://urbn.is/4hMj2Xj
I regularly get unsolicited invites to political fundraising events in my work email. I think it’s because I’m a registered lobbyist, which is a little troubling. Anyway, this one was particularly fun #mepolitics
November 10, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I regularly get unsolicited invites to political fundraising events in my work email. I think it’s because I’m a registered lobbyist, which is a little troubling. Anyway, this one was particularly fun #mepolitics
I can’t help but think Senate Democrats managed to prove folks like Jared Golden right, when he said the shutdown was just performative for the base and that it wasn’t an effective way to protect health care.
November 10, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I can’t help but think Senate Democrats managed to prove folks like Jared Golden right, when he said the shutdown was just performative for the base and that it wasn’t an effective way to protect health care.
I want state lawmakers to stop staying “states can’t afford to pay SNAP on their own.” We need to start preparing for eventualities like this. $360 million a year would be a big lift for Maine but it’s not actually impossible. We have to fight for progressive revenue #mepolitics
The Trump admin fucking up state administrative capacity to provide SNAP benefits is not just a feature of the shutdown. This is their long-term plan to reduce SNAP.
Soon, GOP will start talking block grants due to administrative complexity they created.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-big-be...
Soon, GOP will start talking block grants due to administrative complexity they created.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-big-be...
The Big Beautiful Bill has a SNAP Poison Pill
How states will get the blame for massive cuts to food stamps
donmoynihan.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I want state lawmakers to stop staying “states can’t afford to pay SNAP on their own.” We need to start preparing for eventualities like this. $360 million a year would be a big lift for Maine but it’s not actually impossible. We have to fight for progressive revenue #mepolitics
Reposted by James Myall
This is an absolutely insane administrative process. Within the space of a week, states were told by judges/White House
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
This is an absolutely insane administrative process. Within the space of a week, states were told by judges/White House
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
I was just wondering the other day why Trump doesn’t use different tariff authority instead of IEEPA, and it seems that may be the backup plan.
J.P. Morgan: “This week’s US Supreme Court hearing over President Trump’s use of IEEPA tariffs raises the odds these will be reversed. We do not see the decision having a material impact on where the level of the effective tariff rate settles.”
November 8, 2025 at 11:30 PM
I was just wondering the other day why Trump doesn’t use different tariff authority instead of IEEPA, and it seems that may be the backup plan.
This would be terrible on a number of levels. If you’re dividing the existing ACA subsidies between everyone, people don’t get enough to buy insurance. Healthier people will keep the $ instead of buying insurance, driving prices up for everyone else.
November 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This would be terrible on a number of levels. If you’re dividing the existing ACA subsidies between everyone, people don’t get enough to buy insurance. Healthier people will keep the $ instead of buying insurance, driving prices up for everyone else.
Jeez. It’s not over yet after all #mepolitics
🚨BREAKING: Donald Trump & USDA going to Supreme Court to try and STOP SNAP Benefits from being distributed. This is truly the MOST evil thing I have ever witnessed by a sitting Administration. Absolutely DESPICABLE!
www.lawdork.com/p/trump-admi...
www.lawdork.com/p/trump-admi...
Trump admin goes to SCOTUS to try and stop order that it pay full SNAP benefits this month
DOJ asks the justices for an order by 9:30 p.m. Friday — as USDA was in the middle of completing its process for making full payments, under a court order to finish Friday.
www.lawdork.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Jeez. It’s not over yet after all #mepolitics
This should be a priority
Did you know gov shutdowns aren’t in the Constitution, any law, or Court ruling?
They exist because of a 1980 OLC memo—a lawyer’s opinion that everyone just went along with. Before 1980, funding gaps didn’t cause shutdowns.
What one memo created, another can undo. How the next D admin can undo it:
They exist because of a 1980 OLC memo—a lawyer’s opinion that everyone just went along with. Before 1980, funding gaps didn’t cause shutdowns.
What one memo created, another can undo. How the next D admin can undo it:
Why America’s Government Shutdowns Exist and How to End Them
One Legal Memo Created The Shutdown Era. Another Can End It.
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:21 PM
This should be a priority
A relatively simple fix would be for the legislature to amend the rainy day statute. Give the Governor limited authority to draw from it when the federal government is shut down, to replace critical federal funding #mepolitics
If this truly is the end of this debacle, Maine lawmakers should reflect on how unprepared the state was to handle the withdrawal of critical federal funds. This won’t be the last long shutdown and we need to set up better contingencies. #mepolitics
The food assistance program had not been funded since Nov. 1, when the USDA said it had run out of funding as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
November 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
A relatively simple fix would be for the legislature to amend the rainy day statute. Give the Governor limited authority to draw from it when the federal government is shut down, to replace critical federal funding #mepolitics
If this truly is the end of this debacle, Maine lawmakers should reflect on how unprepared the state was to handle the withdrawal of critical federal funds. This won’t be the last long shutdown and we need to set up better contingencies. #mepolitics
The food assistance program had not been funded since Nov. 1, when the USDA said it had run out of funding as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Janet Mills says Maine will pay full SNAP benefits in November
The food assistance program had not been funded since Nov. 1, when the USDA said the program had run out of funding as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
www.bangordailynews.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:58 PM
If this truly is the end of this debacle, Maine lawmakers should reflect on how unprepared the state was to handle the withdrawal of critical federal funds. This won’t be the last long shutdown and we need to set up better contingencies. #mepolitics
This all still very chaotic, but fingers crossed…
BREAKING: The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states Friday it was releasing full November funding for the nation’s major food assistance program that helps 42 million people afford groceries.
via @fischler.bsky.social
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/full...
via @fischler.bsky.social
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/full...
Full November SNAP benefits to be issued by Trump administration despite shutdown
The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states Friday it was releasing full November funding for the nation’s major food assistance program that helps 42 million people afford groceries, complying wit...
www.newsfromthestates.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
This all still very chaotic, but fingers crossed…
Reposted by James Myall
New guidance from USDA says they will administer full SNAP benefits.
However, less than 45 minutes ago, the Attorney General tweeted about asking for a stay on the order forcing full benefits.
Seems weird to send this guidance if they’re hoping for a stay by 4pm.
However, less than 45 minutes ago, the Attorney General tweeted about asking for a stay on the order forcing full benefits.
Seems weird to send this guidance if they’re hoping for a stay by 4pm.
November 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
New guidance from USDA says they will administer full SNAP benefits.
However, less than 45 minutes ago, the Attorney General tweeted about asking for a stay on the order forcing full benefits.
Seems weird to send this guidance if they’re hoping for a stay by 4pm.
However, less than 45 minutes ago, the Attorney General tweeted about asking for a stay on the order forcing full benefits.
Seems weird to send this guidance if they’re hoping for a stay by 4pm.
Ok so I guess everything is just confusing and chaotic. Some states (like California) sent the request to the federal vendor for the usual benefit, and got it. At the same time, federal lawyers are appealing the ruling in court. So the feds are totally in disarray.
This is particularly confusing since I’ve read that Trump is appealing the ruling(!) and I didn’t think USDA had even sent funds to states yet, let alone given states time to load the money onto cards. Unless CA is using state money?
BIG WIN: The Trump Administration was ordered today to immediately release all the SNAP food benefits they've withheld during the government shutdown.
Californians are beginning to see benefits on their CalFresh cards now.
Californians are beginning to see benefits on their CalFresh cards now.
November 7, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Ok so I guess everything is just confusing and chaotic. Some states (like California) sent the request to the federal vendor for the usual benefit, and got it. At the same time, federal lawyers are appealing the ruling in court. So the feds are totally in disarray.