The Poor and Our Politics

 Antipoverty provisions in the American Rescue Act are being praised as the most significant effort to help poor people since the Great Society and War On Poverty under President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. This latest coronavirus relief package puts more money in poor people's pockets, and children may be the biggest beneficiaries. Large reductions in child poverty are predicted. However we should not overstate the benefits. Reducing poverty takes a long term commitment neither politicians or the American people have been willing to make.

There is no political backlash when Medicaid or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamps) are cut. Instead politicians gain support. Yet Social Security and Medicare for seniors are untouchable. They have broad public support. The American Rescue Act primarily helps the middle class providing $ 1400 stimulus checks for individuals making up to $ 75,000 and couples making $150,000 with another $ 1400 per dependent.

What does that latest relief package do for poor people ? It converts an existing child tax credit into an allowance. Those five and younger get $3600 while those 6 to 17 get $3000. The benefits are universal too. They include the non working poor who don't have taxable income. It also increases funding for rental assistance, food stamps, and Section 8 housing vouchers. The Urban Institute says the measure could reduce child poverty by 52%. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities puts the figure at 40%. Meanwhile experts at Columbia University predict an overall decline in poverty by one third. All of this is a step in the right direction because the pandemic has devastated poor people. But the antipoverty initiatives expire in a year so many people will fall back into poverty unless the allowance is made permanent. That's the political challenge because there is some indication that President Biden would like to do this. While liberals and leftists would be supportive moderate Democrats within the Biden's own party would join Republicans in opposition. In the closely divided Senate moderate Democrats especially Joe Manchin of West Virginia effectively pushed to strip a $15 per hour Minimum Wage increase from the package.

Ultimately politicians in neither party or the voting public support major reforms to help the poor. It's not about deficits or the national debt. It isn't about waste and inefficiency either. Government doing big things to help the poor is not popular because poor people themselves rather than society are blamed for poverty. As long as the poor are considered broken or pathological society doesn't have to be changed. You don't have raise the Minimum Wage if poor people are lazy and lack ambition. It doesn't make sense to improve schools for poor children if they don't value learning. Racism and sexism contribute to poverty too. Until these ongoing problems are addressed nothing will change.

This latest effort to help the poor isn't bad. Anything is better than nothing. But it's not good enough.