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I grew up in the Central Valley of California, the eldest of eight children. My family benefitted from public assistance in a variety of ways. There were times when the electricity was shut off or there was little food in the house. I have vivid memories of pots and pans blackened from cooking in the living room fireplace when the gas hadn’t been paid. I remember the large plastic bag of frozen burritos delivered to the house by a local charity organization when our supply of government cheese, beans and rice had run out. Without the financial support from my grandparents, tax benefits that help the poor, and "food stamps" (the precursor to SNAP), or other relief assistance – programs that many families rely on, today – we would not have survived. It is likely, too, that without government assistance, I would not have gone to college. But, today, all of that is under attack. Congress continues its relentless assault on children by attempting to destroy the health coverage on which most poor and low-income kids depend. Last week, a tax plan was unveiled a tax plan that would further erode what actually makes our country great: the assurance that every child, regardless of the zip code in which she was born, has the opportunity for a promising future.
