On this edition of Your Call, we discuss how the final version of the debt ceiling agreement will affect low-income people and those living in poverty.
New work requirements for those receiving food assistance will put almost 750,000 older adults at risk of losing that assistance, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The deal will also freeze spending, which will result in budget cuts for vital government programs.
There are 140 million poor and low-income people in the US today, according to the Poor People’s Campaign. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t changed in 12 years; 87 million people go without healthcare or are uninsured; 700 people die each day from poverty; and over 15 million people make less than $15 an hour.
Guests:
Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director for the Food Research and Action Center
Alex Miller, Navy veteran who was homeless, journalist, and fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project
Web Resources:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Debt Ceiling Agreement’s SNAP Changes Would Increase Hunger and Poverty for Many Older Low-Income People; New Exemptions Would Help Some Others
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: TANF Provisions in Debt Ceiling Agreement
The Los Angeles Times: The debt ceiling deal’s ‘work requirements’ really just take food away from poor people
The Los Angeles Times: Debt ceiling deal is all about punishing the poor
Newsweek, Alex Miller: 37,000 U.S. Veterans Are Homeless. I Was One of Them
Substack, Alex Miller: Couldn't Go to School, So I Went to TV
Esquire, Alex Miller: Hell in the SRO: A Veteran's True Story
The New York Times, Alex Miller: In Need, in New York
