It appears Republican leaders and President Joe Biden have reached an agreement to avoid a catastrophic default on our nation’s debt. The deal is far from perfect. It imposes new SNAP reporting requirements that put older adults at serious risk of losing food assistance. It also risks investments in programs that reduce poverty around the globe. The nation must pay its bills, but not by asking people already struggling to sacrifice what little they have.
The real question is why are we choosing between pushing people deeper into poverty and risking an economic catastrophe from default in the first place? I don’t want our nation to default but I do want Congress to do its job. This is a manufactured crisis but with real lives at stake.
We should never again have to make this false choice. Going forward, I demand our members of Congress prioritize policies that reduce poverty, not make it worse.
