The Reverse New Deal: Hurt Babies

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

The Republican and Tea Party-fueled government shutdown--which Republican U.S. Senator John McCain has more specifically blamed on the Tea Party--has hurt millions of people. Even babies are not immune from the effects of their shutdown:

"The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it would stop issuing vouchers for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children because of the federal government shutdown" (see "Government Shutdown Leaves WIC Recipients In North Carolina Without Baby Formula").

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

During the New Deal era there was an effort to help babies and their mothers. For example, unemployed nurses were hired into the WPA to provide medical care to low-income families. But we've come along way since then. Today, many Americans scorn the unemployed, try to prevent low-income families from receiving affordable health care, try to cut children off from food assistance, and now shutdown the government so that, among other things, babies can't receive nutrition assistance.

And all the while, multi-national corporations avoid taxes, the U.S. Treasury loses about $300 billion dollars every year due to illegal tax evasion, taxes on the super-wealthy remain historically low, and income & wealth inequality skyrockets.

But we can't afford to assist babies? Welcome to the Reverse New Deal.

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)