The United States’ poverty rate experienced its largest one-year jump on record last year, with the rate among children more than doubling from 2021’s historic low of 5.2 percent to 12.4 percent according to new numbers from the US Census Bureau out today. They’re the latest data to reflect the devastating effects following the expiration of nearly all pandemic-era relief programs. That includes the end of Medicaid rules that protected recipients from getting kicked off because of administrative errors, an end to rental assistance policies, and the restart of student loan payments.
These policies might seem like a distant memory at this point. But they’re worth recalling with the arrival of every new report. Each demonstrates what happens when politicians long hostile to caregivers, universal health care, and the welfare state, for a brief moment, acted to create powerful, federally-backed safety net programs aimed at helping everyday Americans. One of the most effective programs to emerge was the expansion of the child tax credit, which provided families monthly checks of up to $300 per child and broadened eligibility rules for qualifying families. In turn, child poverty rates plummeted; the extra income allowed caregivers to quit grueling second and third jobs; parents were able to buy their kids decent clothes and help stop taunting at school. The Census Bureau previously reported that food insecurity dropped dramatically after just the first extended payment, from 10.7 million households reporting they didn’t have enough food to 7.4 million.
But as the pandemic receded, Republicans with the help of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who in private remarks reportedly warned that families were using the extra income to buy drugs, appeared to remember the country’s longstanding pre-pandemic hostility. Their opposition ultimately tanked President Biden’s agenda, and along with it, the brief life of the expanded child tax credit. That’s something worth remembering today as the predictable crowd is likely to cry about Democratic-engineered inflation.
Yeah blame the Democratic party because one shitty Democrat, and ignore the 50 Republican senators that are actually doing all this shit. Totally makes sense.
I’m learning real fast that “this is Lemmy” everyone hates liberals/democrats and fake hating Republicans, but never call them out directly. They just love to hate Democrats and hide behind “both sides” bullshit. They have at best a tepid understanding of how our government functions.
It’s actually more futile to argue with them than it was to argue with maga morons on reddit…
Another user mentioned that we’re being brigaded by Hexbear users. Which would explain all the poorly written, ignorant comments I’ve been seeing here.
They write like 6th graders.
The Democrats enable this. They know exactly what they are doing, and have the same corporate sponsors as the Republicans. They spent literally billions of dollars to railroad Sanders’ agenda, but let Manchin and Sinema run amok. They do that because Manchin and Sinema are the levers by which they can either decide to make something policy or use as an excuse why they couldn’t adopt some policy, since somehow the two parties are always split 50/50 in some magical way that coincidentally benefits their corporate rulers.
The Democrats work with the Republicans to enact the corporatist agenda.
The two parties are not always split 50/50. What are you like 12 years old?
And what you’re talking about is the Overton Window. Blaming Democrats for the GOP’s perversion of our Democracy is the height of victim blaming.
The DNC as victims, that’s rich! Hahahahah
The only victim blaming in this thread is the blaming of leftwingers for not voting blue.