In March of 1964, in a message to Congress, Lyndon Johnson proposed legislation labeled the Economic Opportunity Act to conquer poverty in the United States as part of his “Great Society” initiative. This became known as the “War on Poverty” because of its objective of helping the poorest Americans escape poverty through federal programs. Though its goals were laudable, it was never considered a significant success, possibly because funding was inadequate for such an ambitious concept. But one cannot argue with its intention, given the degree of poverty in the country at that time.
Large numbers of Americans have remained impoverished in the years since. The recent recession and decades of off-shoring of decent jobs by American companies to foreign countries has played an important role in poverty’s continued prevalence. In fact, many middle-class citizens have become unemployed and driven into poverty because of this.
That poverty has grown, the middle-class has contracted, and economic inequality between the upper one percent and the rest of the population is soaring are inescapable facts. Most Americans would agree that these developments are not healthy in a democracy, but what is disputed is how or even if these problems should be addressed.
Census data has revealed that 46.5 million Americans are currently living in poverty, 15 percent of our citizens, among the highest level in two decades. However, rather than developing programs to try and shrink the rate of poverty and expand the nation’s middle class, the Republican Party on a national and state levels is instead engaging in a “War on the Impoverished.” In numerous ways, Republicans are making the lives of poor people and the middle-class more difficult, preventing them from taking advantage of opportunities to climb the economic ladder and escape from the prison of financial privation.
This policy of a “War on the Impoverished” is evident in the efforts of Congressional Republicans to cut the food stamp program (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program- SNAP) that is a lifeline for millions of poor people. Republicans equate the program with a welfare plan whose benefits would allow recipients to avoid working, even though the average benefits are equivalent to $4.45 per day, hardly enough to support an extravagant lifestyle. In addition, nearly two thirds of the recipients are children, the disabled, or the elderly. And many of the people who receive food stamps are already working, but their wages are inadequate to provide a decent diet for them and their children. Others in the program are unemployed because they cannot find jobs in today’s marketplace. Interestingly, at the same time Republicans are trying to shrink the food stamp program, they are willing to give billions of dollars in subsidies to corporate agricultural interests, though farmers have been doing quite well financially on their own.
The Republican fight to cut unemployment compensation for the long-term unemployed is another example of their disdain for poor and middle-class citizens who cannot obtain jobs. Emergency extension of unemployment benefits was passed during the recent recession when joblessness skyrocketed. Though corporate profits have grown since then and unemployment has dropped to about 7.5 percent, many previously employed individuals have continued to be unable to find jobs and have exhausted their unemployment compensation. Republican efforts to slash benefits have occurred in both Congress and state legislatures.
Attempts to keep the interest rates on student loans at reasonable levels also was fought by Republicans in Congress, with need-based Stafford loans jumping from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 of this year because of GOP intransigence. Most student loans are unsubsidized and the rate of these is at 6.8 percent, which is a heavy load for many college graduates. Indeed, the default rate on student loans is growing both because of the inability of graduates to get well-paying jobs and the accumulated interest on their loans. America should be encouraging its young citizens to pursue further education and should make it as affordable as possible, with interest rates on loans that do not provide the government with a profit.
The unwillingness of Republican governors and legislatures in twenty-six states to expand Medicaid as part of the initiation of Obamacare is another slap in the face of the poor, keeping large numbers of them from obtaining health insurance. This is in spite of the fact that the federal government will pay for the program completely until 2016, and 90 percent of it subsequently. Over half of the nation’s uninsured, low-wage workers live in these Republican controlled states that refuse to expand Medicaid. The very poor will remain in the current Medicaid programs and those who have income just above the poverty line and are moderately poor will be able to get federal subsidies to help them buy insurance on the exchanges. But there is a large group in-between, estimated to contain as many as eight million people, who will not be covered by any health insurance program.
Given the war Republicans are waging on the impoverished, it should come as no surprise that in numerous states the GOP is also trying to make it as difficult as possible for poor people to vote, with legislatures passing stringent voter ID laws. Republicans certainly don’t want voters whom they’ve been consistently attacking to have the opportunity to participate in elections, as they realize that the vast majority of these people would cast ballots against them.
With the economy growing, albeit slowly, and the top one percent accumulating ever higher percentages of the nation’s wealth, a way must be found to help those still in poverty live lives free of hunger, receive training for jobs in the new economy, and have guaranteed health care. It appears that the Republicans are uninterested in finding any answers.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020