The Social Safety Net

The federal social safety net continues to lift millions of Americans out of poverty, to provide food on the table of hard-working low-income families, to cover health care costs for those in need, and to help provide housing for those who might otherwise be on the streets.  Safety net programs provide these types of goods and services for those who need help, which includes primarily the elderly, children, disabled adults, and the working poor.  Yet Republicans continue to wage a war on poverty-alleviation programs, trying to slash their funding at the same time the GOP refuses to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay one penny more for the purpose of deficit reduction.