Earlier this year, millions of Americans got notice that their food budget would be cut, in some cases by hundreds of dollars a month. These notices signaled the end of a federal increase in food stamps that began back in the early days of the pandemic, when unemployment was spiking and lawmakers were afraid that hunger would too.
Of course, because we live in a society that considers poor people expendable, the government is now rolling back what was initially a solid safety net and instead forcing the most vulnerable to decide what groceries they need based on what they can afford. These cuts come at a particularly bad time as grocery prices increased 10% over the past year, according to data released this week. In essence, the country’s neediest families have less aid to pay for food as that food is getting more expensive.
This represents a tangible example of how the recent rise in the nation’s poverty rate is affecting people’s lives. The poverty rate fell sharply early in the pandemic, thanks mostly to economic relief laws (remember stimulus checks?) that Congress passed in response to Covid. But Congress let many of those provisions expire, and the poverty rate unsurprisingly rose last year as a result.
Ultimately, the food stamp cuts will probably push more people, likely millions more, into poverty. The price increase will largely erase what remained of recent years’ progress on the issue. In that sense, the food stamp cuts fits perfectly into a broader story: At the start of the pandemic, the US expanded its safety net somewhat to prevent the absolute worst outcomes of a crashing economy. Unemployment benefits were increased, rent and mortgage requirements were eased, stimulus checks were helpfully provided. Each of those policies helped to keep people out of poverty. But now that “Covid is over” congress is letting that safety net shrink back to its original size, which was essentially nonexistent. And shockingly, poverty is rising back to where it once was. This is America.
Side Items
Covid’s Origin Story: After the lab leak theory was given more traction by experts earlier this month, there’s a new suspect in the hunt for Covid’s origin: Infected raccoon dogs. While this might sound like an absurd possibility, the animals are apparently for sale through illegal wildlife trade in Wuhan, China, and some researchers say they could have ignited the pandemic
Endless French Protests: That boy Macron is acting like a complete fool again. The French president made the unilateral decision to force through a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote by parliament. The ensuing protests have disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change tried to get the government to back down. Striking sanitation workers blocked a waste collection facility that is home to Europe’s largest incinerator and university students walked out of lecture halls to join the strikes. The scenes from Parisian streets indicate that the French populace is willing to burn it all before they allow this change to pass
Murder at a Mental Hospital: A Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled was pinned to the ground and murdered by seven porcine deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death. Irvo Otieno was a 28 year old man who was subjected to brutal treatment, first at a local jail and then at the Virginia state hospital where authorities say he died on March 6 during the admission process. The attorney for Otieno’s family said at a news conference that video shows all seven of the deputies now facing charges pushing down on Otieno, who was in handcuffs and leg irons