GOP "Wars:" Women, Seniors, Immigrants, Minorities, Healthcare, the Poor and Needy

Not just Trump but a large majority of the GOP and their base 

(The question is why)

From this story – A nasty move by Trump and a long term goal in the GOP's war on the poor and needy (e.g., proposed cuts to Social Security and turning Medicare/Medicaid into a voucher program ref: Paul Ryan).

Latest is #17 on this list. Pretty pitiful isn’t it, but right in character with GOP thinking and I ask: Don’t RED states folks use these programs – hell, I guess not, right? (Cue the laughing now).

The rationale behind new Trump proposals/cuts is based on the usual misconception about exactly which Americans are on food stamps. 

Well, here are the facts about food stamp recipients from a USDA website, using the most recent data available from fiscal year 2016 and published in January 2018. In that year, the program served some 44.2 million people, a slight decrease from previous years. 

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16 programs that the GOP hates and wants to “reform” read:

“Cut funding or abolish”…

1. Veterans Health Administration: The largest single-payer health care system in the United States and graded as “effective in providing access to inexpensive health care for low-income veterans.”

2. The Child Tax Credit:  Provides assistance to families with children and it has protected about 2.9 million people from falling into poverty, including about 1.5 million children.

3. The Earned Income Tax Credit:  Provides cash assistance to low-income working families and accord to Ryan himself: “studies on the EITC shows it is an effective tool for encouraging and rewarding work among lower-income individuals, particularly single mothers.”

4. Rural Housing Assistance Grants:  Funds the repair and improvement of rural housing units and it “allows very low-income elderly homeowners on a fixed budget to remain at home and independent.”

5. Title X Family Planning provides grants to states for family planning and related preventive health services, excluding abortion services. The report found that the program is “moderately effective. According to a 2005 OMB assessment, “women who utilize Title X (Family Planning program) services as their primary source of health care have significantly greater odds of receiving contraceptive services and/or care for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than women who utilize private physicians or HMOs.”

6. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides funding to states in support of health care costs associated with HIV/AIDS treatments for individuals and families. The initiative “has been shown to fill gaps in Medicaid’s HIV/AIDS services and delivery programs,” the report found.

7. Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS provides housing assistance and supportive services for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. The program was found to be “effective” in “assisting a vulnerable population to achieve beneficial outcome.”

8. Federal Health Centers provide grants to outpatient primary-care facilities. The report found “fewer racial and ethnic disparities at community health centers” and concluded that they “perform better than private-practice primary case in some cases.”  What’s more, medical expenses for health center patients were found to be lower compared to patients who receive care elsewhere.

9. Homeless Assistance Grants provide rehab-housing and supportive housing to the homeless. The program has been shown to “decrease homeless and reduce costs related to health care and institutionalization.”

10. Low income subsidy for Medicare Part D helps low-income seniors access medications they otherwise would not use. A 2012 study compared two groups of seniors with similar commodities and found that seniors taking advantage of the LIS subsidy were significantly more likely to take medically necessary medications than the group not enrolled in the LIS program.

11. The Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant has helped reduce infant mortality and was rated highly effective by OMB report.

12. Elderly Nutrition Program funds group meals and home-delivered meals for senior citizens. “By and large, studies have found that the program is well targeted towards the low-income elderly and to those with increased risk for nutrition and health problems.

13. Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides adequate nutrition to pregnant women, infants, and children. “Most of the academic literature supports that the WIC program increases birth weights for low-income women,” the report concludes.

14. School Breakfast Program increases both nutrition and academic achievement among low-income children it doesn’t seem to increase the likelihood that a child will eat breakfast.

15. Education for Homeless Children and Youth provides funding for states to create programs to ensure homeless children and youth have access to public education. The initiative improves student performance.

16. Child Care and Development Fund helps low-income families afford child care. The report agrees that the subsidies increase the likelihood of participation in the labor force and encourages single mothers to pursue education.

Just added by Trump and addressed in the linked story above:

17. SNAP (Food Stamps): White House OMB will release a new report outlining a plan to move all safety-net programs into HHS, and to give that new department also a new name, emphasizing the word “welfare” (which will play to the “free stuff” angry GOP based. The move also will lump the $70 billion for SNAP (Food Stamps) in with Medicare and Medicaid. Under one roof and making it easier to cut SNAP – a long time GOP goal. 

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