As part of a coalition consisting of The Pennsylvania Poor Peoples’ Campaign, March on Harrisburg, the Better Path Coalition, and others, I went to Mt. Wolf and set up my tent in Gov. Tom Wolf’s front yard. I was prepared to spend as many nights as it took to convince the governor that cutting General Assistance (GA) had to be resisted.

General Assistance was a tiny part of the state budget, and it only went to people in desperate situations. It served mostly disabled people who cannot work, displaced victims of domestic violence and those in rehab for addiction.

It was often the only benefit available to people awaiting approval for disability payments or those fleeing violence in the home. The $200 monthly cash grant went for housing payments, transportation costs, and things like toiletries.

No one was getting rich — or even too comfortable — but many were kept off the streets and out of homeless shelters. This was money to help people survive, to give them some dignity.

The governor, when he met with us, said all the right things. However, in the end, he refused to stand up to protect the most vulnerable amongst us and the program was ended.

And now, the Trump administration has issued new guidelines for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. These guidelines ensure that the poor remain poor because it requires that even meager savings be depleted before a family can be eligible for assistance. They demand that a senior refinance their home before they can be eligible. They also place tighter restrictions on income — so even an overtime shift or a tiny raise could immediately end eligibility.

There is a war on the poor. Rather than giving a hand up, too many politicians punch down. And what’s really sad, at least to me, is that too many of their constituents applaud this sickness.

These programs, SNAP and GA, were a tiny part of the state and federal budgets, dwarfed by corporate handouts and military spending, but the poor are a convenient punching bag, no one is getting rich off them. However, our national character is all the poorer.

Michael Bagdes-Canning

Cherry Valley