Children — Collateral Damage, Political Carnage

Legislators Toss Kids into the Trash

Kids Trashed Photo Pat Van Doren (with permission)

My friend Pat LaMarche is fond of quoting me,

“We must be a mighty wealthy country if we can afford to throw our kids away.”

Never has this been so true.

Senators, so you can know what we’re throwing away (don’t you hate it when you inadvertently toss something of value into the trash?), here’s a brief, not-all-inclusive review:

• 10 million kids (and families) no longer receiving the life-sustaining monthly Child Tax Credit payments. Since you’re not likely to consider Universal Basic Income for another 100 years, the tax credit was the next best thing. Gone.
• 10 million kids needing child care, unaffordable to their parents. We sure wouldn’t want to give the parents a chance to go out and earn a paycheck, would we?
• 2 million childcare workers, almost all women, whose pitiful paychecks don’t make it worth risking their lives to do their job. Their children, and those they could be serving, are stuck at home, if they’re lucky enough to have one.
• 8+ million children and youth experiencing homelessness, about 80% Not Homeless Enough to be considered homeless by HUD, therefore they do without a place to call home, while the first…