Brunswick Beacon, 09.28.23
It’s sickening that, in the “greatest country in the world,” childhood hunger remains a serious problem. President Joe Biden recently issued a statement on “Census Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage Reports” noting the “dire consequences of congressional Republicans’ refusal to extend the enhanced Child Tax Credit” which had “cut child poverty by nearly half to record lows.” Between 2021 and 2022, childhood poverty jumped from a historic low of 5.2% to 12.4%.
Republicans, meanwhile, long for the return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2024 (indictments notwithstanding) to usher in another round of tax cuts - not for working parents, but for the wealthy and corporations. Those folks are not in danger of missing a meal, but America’s kids certainly are.
Food insecurity is a pervasive problem across America and right here in North Carolina. As our First Lady, Kristin Cooper, recently said, “We produce a ton of food and yet we have around a quarter of our children who go to bed at night who are food insecure, so to me, it’s unacceptable.” Evidently, it’s perfectly acceptable to our MAGA Republican legislators who seem to think that because kids don’t vote, it’s just not a problem worth addressing.
Compounding the problem is the fact that corporate consolidation in the agribusiness and food-producing industries has driven the cost of feeding a family to levels far exceeding the rate of inflation. Corporate profits are thriving; American kids are not.
Corporations and the wealthy are not lying awake at night unable to sleep, sitting in class unable to learn, or wasting away with preventable nutritional deficiencies. President Biden is fighting to end childhood poverty in America. If MAGA Republicans prefer the shameful status quo, they don’t deserve a seat at the table.
Laura McGann
Leland