The GOP Sells Its Soul Once Again

By DON ROLLINS

“My hope is over time the states that have decided not to do this understand the mistake they’ve made for their children and for the grocery industry and the food industry and the agricultural industry,” — Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture

I can’t prove it, but if there’s a basement suite in hell for politicians who place ideology and career above hungry kids, a handful of Republicans may want to do some diligent soul searching before leaving this old world.

If that seems a bit harsh, consider the 15 GOP governors who in January spurned no-strings-attached federal funding aimed at reducing their states’ (and in some cases tribal) summertime child poverty, then publicly crowed about it.

Publicity points aside, there is no rationale for rejecting those dollars: The Summer Electronic Benefits (EBT) for Children program operates exclusively on evidence-based practices; targets the months when child food insecurity is at its annual peak; and is user-friendly for a medium-scale federal program. ($40 per month, per eligible child, for three months, loaded onto cards to be used anywhere Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are accepted.)

When pressed for why they took a pass on what should’ve been a no-brainer, each of the 15 future denizens of Hades’ bowels put a twist on the company line succinctly articulated by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds: “Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.”

Reynolds’ complicated relationship with the MAGA crowd notwithstanding, she’s proving more than adept when it comes to cloaking irresponsible Republicanism in populist terms. Her no was because COVID is past-tense, the program has no sustainable upsides, and it avoids a need for improved nutrition.

In reality, Iowa’s governor (and by proxy her 14 similarly compassion-challenged Republican colleagues) are feeding their constituents bogus arguments: COVID has relented but not disappeared, and 18% of cases reported in 2023 were children; A US Census Bureau study showed a steep rise in child poverty in the years 2021-2023, from a record setting low of 5.2, to 12.4; The Summer EBT program is an extension of that developed during peak-COVID, and has improved in outcomes every year since. (A separate study done by The Hamilton Project showed a 33% drop in summertime child hunger in states using the parent EBT model.) And while Reynolds surfaces the question of child obesity and government assistance (2023 research done by Cato Institute does point to a slight increase in obesity among families receiving aid) she’s silent on the links between generational poverty, poor eating habits, lack of exercise and irregular sleep.

In short, there is no explanation for declining those funds other than political style points. None.

Such simplistic, con-artist approaches when confronted with the facts is nothing new for the party of Lincoln. Nor is their amazing capacity to take a bad situation and make it exponentially worse. But in this instance, 15 governors in good standing with their party have made the unconscionable decision to take food out of the mouths of needy kids. It’s a new low, even for a GOP always eager to sell it’s own soul.

Postscript: The list of states whose governors opted out of the Summer EBT program is readily found online. Some, not all were sadly predictable.

Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, February 15, 2024

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