Poverty will skyrocket

Blame those in Power

One of the social safety nets that was strengthened due to the coronavirus pandemic has ended, the additional allocation of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or SNAP. Other benefits will end in the coming weeks, leading to millions of Americans being forced back into the scourge of our times -- poverty. Poverty has always been a part of the American way of life because many Americans are willing to believe the myth that has so brilliantly been told that anyone can get ahead with hard work in America. One hoped that that myth would finally die when it was discovered via the national crisis witnessed at the height of the pandemic that our destinies are intertwined as much as we may not like them. This is the issue with the magical thinking that only appears in America, that we are somehow the exception and are proud to be that exception so long as it means we have a little more than our neighbors, even if they may go hungry. But I've digressed enough here and will attempt to get back on track with this post.

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The facts are clear as day; according to a study, the expanded benefits helped keep four million people out of poverty, At the end of 2021. People who receive SNAP will now get, on average, 6.10 cents per day to purchase food. The effect will undoubtedly affect people with children the most. With many schools cutting back on reduced lunch programs and some schools ending complimentary breakfast, this will increase children facing hunger. To those who have problems with their tax dollars going to feed people, I'd remind them that children will go hungry.

Since in the United States, we have this fascination that poverty is preventable or a moral failing on the individual rather than on the society. America desperately needs to rethink its approach to poverty and the concept of American exceptionalism.

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When the public health emergency declaration order officially expires at the end of March, millions will lose access to Medicaid, which allowed people at the lower rungs of the economic ladder to continue to have continuous healthcare coverage throughout the pandemic.

Policymakers in Washington have yet to put forth a plan to allow people to obtain continuous coverage. Nor is there a plan by anyone in D.C. to ensure that COVID vaccines, tests, and treatment continues to be free. The best the federal government can do is give states guidance on how to ensure people have the right to healthcare when we all know many would hope to go back to the old days before people enjoyed access to an expanded social safety net. It is always more challenging to roll back rights than it is to give them. When the public has learned that the government is willing to spend vast amounts of money on expanding the social safety net, they are unlikely to have a good feeling when those programs end.

The biggest lesson learned from the pandemic is this: The money is there to spend on these programs.

President Biden could have vetoed the latest funding bill which ensured the Public Health Emergency Order ends in March. When poverty skyrockets blame everyone in power, from the White House down to every elected official.