We (and This Includes You, Democrats) Have Blown a Huge Hole in the Safety Net

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https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/23-6


In the United States of America, according to government statistics, there are at least 6 million people whose incomes are composed only of food stamps. Shame on us, writes the author. (Photo: talkpoverty.org)


You can count on your fingers, and maybe a toe or two, the number of otherwise progressive public officials and policy experts inside the Beltway who want to talk about the gaping hole in our safety net for mothers and children. Up to and including President Obama, the mainstream Democratic position on cash assistance for families with children is that we reformed welfare in 1996 and that the ensuing policy regime is a roaring success.

This is just plain wrong.

Lest I be immediately dismissed in what I am about to say (and the usual suspects will do so anyway), let me be clear that the main way to end poverty is jobs that result in a livable income, and the education necessary to get and keep those jobs. The totality of strategies to reduce poverty also includes healthy communities and necessary services—including health and mental health services—child care, legal services, and more. A discussion of welfare is not the same as a discussion of how to end poverty.

But one part of an antipoverty strategy is indeed a safety net. And this is where people who should know better (or actually do) are averting their eyes.