Soapbox

Lines of Despair

This letter appeared in the Columbus Dispatch in June while they were doing a series on people waiting in line for food pantries around the state. I have since learned that an advocate for the working poor took it to Washington and used it in some of her lobbying efforts, which is totally cool.
Editor:

Congratulations on your thought-provoking series, “Lines of Despair”. The working poor are largely ignored in this country, despite the fact that so many of us are one illness or car accident away from disaster and homelessness. The “boom” of the Clinton era missed many working families in Ohio, unfortunately the “bust” of the Bush years has not. The families profiled in your series are not the stereotypical “welfare queens” sponging off the government but hard-working people working 2 and 3 jobs and still not quite able to make ends meet. Readers should keep these families in mind when they hear the administration tout our great “economic recovery”.

Although 900,000 jobs have been created recently, there are still over a million more people out of work now than 4 years ago. As for the jobs created: if you lose a job that pays $18/hr and replace it with one at minimum wage, you may be off the unemployment statistics, but that doesn’t mean you have enough money to eat! Education budgets are on the ropes, veterans benefits are cut, and many active-duty soldiers need food stamps just to get by! In time of war, that fact is a national disgrace.

“There’s not enough money in the budget� we’re told by a government that is giving away billions in corporate welfare and un-bid contracts. Their priorities do not reflect American values. It was recently uncovered by the Washington Post that the Bush administration plans to cut millions of dollars from education and programs like Head Start and the WIC nutrition program, after the election. During a war on terrorism, they even plans cuts for Homeland Security.

If we value these programs we must insist on an economic policy that supports them! America needs a sensible tax plan focused on funding the programs that matter most and not on rewarding corporations who out-source their work force, forcing more and more people into the food pantry lines. It is the only way to erase these lines of despair.