The Right’s attack on America’s poor
“What you do to the least among us you do to me.”
Matthew 25:40
“You shall set aside a tenth of your produce for the alien, the orphan and the widow and the poor.”
Deuteronomy 26:12
“Cursed be the one who subverts the rights of the poor, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.”
Deuteronomy 27:18
By JONATHAN WOLFMAN
Every fiber of our common ethical tradition assumes that the poor do have inalienable economic rights, . that intergenerational poverty is an absolute evil and that law must prevent it.
And yet –
As is well documented, ours was a political and not an economic revolt; class relationships were not altered in 1776 nor in 1989. As extraordinary as our Constitution and its Bill of Rights are, they did not then and rarely now speak to class division nor to systemic exploitation of the poor except in their deafening indifference to them.
So while in my best/worst moments I imagine myself able to throw out states and their vicious leaders who ruthlessly violate the proper ethical commitments we all must have to one another, I know that the invidious behavior toward the poor that we have seen over the past several years is not only not new, but is endemic enough to American history that I cherish those moments and eras when we rise above.
And we must find a way to rise above now.
At this moment numbers of governors are poised to reject enormous amounts of federal Medicaid money for their poorest because they opposed the Affordable Care Act; their nullification is as irrational as it is venal. In the first three years the federal government will carry 100% of the costs and, in out-years, 80%.
Among the consequences are these:
. More than a million of Texas’ poorest children will remain uninsured, needlessly burdening their families and public emergency rooms. Many will die.
. Nearly 2,000,000 under- and unemployed additional Texans will remain without care, compromising lives and the economy.
. In my home-state, Pennsylvania, the governor told the disabled poor they will soon lose their monthly $200 assistance.
. The Ohio governor, despite a budget surplus of $225 million, has slashed state-wide public school class-size project funds.
. Maine’s governor in addition, recently, to comparing the Affordable Care Act to the Holocaust, refused the federal money; over 21,000 of that state’s poorest will without question suffer.
. The governors of Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Iowa and Louisiana have taken similar positions with almost certain similar results in the offing.
And Louisiana’s governor, Bobby Jindal, is said to be just now at the top of the Right’s sock puppet’s list for the vice-presidental nomination.
Would I like to give the boot to these men (and the woman in Carolina)? Sure. I cannot do that.
And I harbor no hope for a thoroughgoing sea-change in economic class-relations here; it was never in the offing.
I hold no hope that these governors and their ilk will ever understand let alone embrace the decency and, frankly, truth, in the ethical cultural injunctions that lead this piece. I do, at the same time, harbor hope that we will again, as a political culture, rediscover our decency and I believe the Right’s vicious overreach will hasten that day.
So, I write.
Jonathan Wolfman blogs at http://open.salon.com/blog/jlw1.
Short URL: http://reportergary.com/?p=26163
Posted by
Jonathan, you have always been a better person than I am. I know the “rights” stradegy, I believe. Those governors who appear so stupid and unfeeling wish their hungry and poor to migrate to states that view the poor as a human obligation to whom care must be given. As a resident of one such state, NY, I’m not so sure I want to take on the burden of those who voted for these unfeeling governors or who didn’t vote at all.
I also find it strange that those who need the help the most will vote conservative. I have never understood people who vote against their interest (I am not speaking of the very rich who do not want to pay a few pennies more to aid fellow Americans. There is self interest and their is greed). Perhaps, Jonathan, you can write an article on that phenominon.
Jonathan purposefully misquotes Bible verses. Why would anyone that reads the Bible and sees his misquotes care to read any further into this article? Anyone that would purposely misquote a Bible verse to make a point, and do it so obviously, with incorrect grammar, is a joke, and obviously untrustworthy.
Where to begin? Well, how about the beginning. The passage in Matthew 25, isn’t talking about feeding “the poor” en masse. Its a reference to how Christians are to care for one another. If you read the passage beginning in the beginning (vs 31) its talking about the return of Christ. As to the Old Testament passage, that dealt specifically with the Hebrews and was never extended to the poor on a universal level.
That having been said, as a Texan, I really dislike it when someone misrepresents our data. True, we have uninsured Texas children. Those children ARE NOT INSURED BY PRIVATE COMPANIES THROUGH THEIR PARENT’S WORK. They are, however, insured through CHIPS and through the JPS, BAYLOR and HARRIS HEALTH systems. Low cost health coverage.
And it seems cheeky to me that he predicts “many will die”. How does he know that? Is there data to support it?
Then we have this little gem:
“Nearly 2,000,000 under- and unemployed additional Texans will remain without care, compromising lives and the economy.”
I wonder where that figure comes from? Texas’ unemployment rate is currently 7.0%, less than the national average and down from 8.1% a year ago. (re: http://www.texasahead.org/economy/tracking/ )
The Dept. of Numbers (http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/texas/) says there’s around 1 million unemployed as of April 2012. Since Texas (to my understanding) doesn’t calculate the “underemployed” its difficult to include them in the mix.
Anyone can give to charity. You do not have to be a religious person to do it. So instead of making this about “religious people” not following your interpretation of their scripture, how about coughing up a few sawbucks yourself?