ICYMI: "No Tom, Sidewalk Chalk Is Not 'Vandalism' Or Even A Crime. But Cutting Healthcare And Food Stamps Should Be"

Michigan Advance Editor-in-Chief Jon King called out Congressman Tom Barrett for crying foul over sidewalk chalk messages outside his office while refusing to step up on negotiations to permanently extend health care tax credits, reopen the federal government, and safeguard food aid for millions of Americans.

After constituents used sidewalk chalk to write messages like "Don't let kids starve Tom!" and "help us afford to live!" outside Barrett's Lansing office, the congressman issued a statement claiming his office was "vandalized by a group of trespassers." King wrote that "sidewalk chalk now qualifies as 'vandalism,' then every Michigan kid with a box of crayons better lawyer up."

• King's commentary highlights the disconnect between Barrett's faux outrage over chalk and his silence on the real damage inflicted on his constituents: "While he frets over scribbles, Barrett's party (which holds majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate, as well as controls the entirety of the Executive Branch) has engineered a situation in which millions face rising health care premiums, an ongoing government shutdown with no end in sight, and a hold-up in food-aid programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP."

• The piece concludes: "The decision Barrett faces is simple: continue playing the victim for chalk messages, or step up and do your duty as a congressman for the people you represent, whether they voted for you or not. Until he (and his party) chooses the latter, the real damage will keep happening, not on a sidewalk, but in our wallets and family's health."

Read the full piece here: https://michiganadvance.com/2025/11/03/no-tom-sidewalk-chalk-is-not-vandalism-or-even-a-crime-but-gutting-medicaid-and-snap-funding-is/