Great piece that shows the tragic belief many hold that the GOP is wiser on fiscal policy than the Democratic Party. Republicans will hem and haw about crime without creating practical solutions that can not only reduce costs in dealing with societal deficiencies but also address root causes.
Compared to trump, Harris' economic policy positions are a dissertation with footnotes. I wholeheartedly agree with your inspired campaign slogan and the policies it represents. However, I refuse to give any credence to corporate media's self serving, dishonest, outrageous and nefarious reporting. “Harris is trying to run a no-substance campaign. Does she believe in anything?” This is just sick. Make it stop.
If it were not for Substacks I would not know what MSM is saying because I learned that they re not saying anything real and discontinued it. I find that out from other sources.
This is such an obvious policy - universal breakfast and lunch (breakfast is important, too!) not only does it feed kids who need it, it frees up income for families. Republicans will whine about it, but they don't like kids having free school, either.
I agree with a universal food program. Even wealthy children will benefit. When I first started teaching in an elite private school, here is what I noticed the children eating for lunch. One child has some horrid looking pizza Lunchable. Both of her parents were doctors. I was thinking this is what doctors allow their children to eat. Another boy whose mom owned a bar and his dad was judge had blue cotton candy for snack and lunch, and this was every day. He was also getting into trouble. I spent my year working on him to get his parents to send him to school with a nutritious lunch. I convinced him to use his powers of persuasion for good. Later in the year he had a sandwich and grapes in his lunch. Such a change from blue cotton candy.--spun sugar. So, contrast that with my daughter in Vienna being in a school where every child was served the lunch. She was/is a fussy eater and said the lunch was good. The teachers ate it too. I think there was a vegetarian option and a soup each day, as well as a non-vegetarian option. She ate well. An advantage of serving everyone the same food for breakfast and lunch like they do in countries like Japan, is that it can be tasty and nutritious, if you have chefs planning the meals, and everyone eats. Parents who are well off have a hard time getting their children to eat lunch if the food is not "yummy" to quote my daughter, unless everyone is eating and eating the same thing.
Here is a discussion of school lunches around the world, although I cannot imagine Norwegian kids eating the kind of bread shown in this video. https://youtu.be/pD9mk0Y_pyo?si=zB0cdY8lLuevWfmF
Thanks for another great piece (just what I’ve come to expect from PN). Obviously in the long run, taxing the wealthy will be the best way to pay for programs such as these, as you note. In addition/in the meantime, would it make sense for schools to request VOLUNTARY contributions to the program from families that can afford them?
Stigma will still be avoided, as no differentiation would be made between children in the cafeteria, and no burdensome means test would dissuade needy families from taking part. And yet families with sufficient means could still contribute toward the costs of the program (and I do think at least some would do just that). Is this a crazy idea?
It's not a crazy idea; the problem is that US schools are badly segregated by income, so the schools that would need the most money for the most students would be asking for donations from a group of parents with relatively limited resources.
I agree that not taxing tips is not a good tax policy. The minimum wage needs to be raised and the subminimum wage for workers who receive tips is horrid. I also agree that free breakfast and lunch meals at schools is necessary. We could easily provide funding for schools by taxing the wealthy and raising taxes on corporations. And, I suspect that if there were an option to pay $5 on your Federal or state tax return to help fund this program people would contribute. Republicans are not pro-family, they are pro-control freaks.
Ron DeSantis is both a bad person and a bad governor. I hope he loses his voters as it grows out of fashion to support hateful people and more in vogue to support nice ones.
We love Tim Walz here in Minnesota! Even before this universal feeding system, many if not all Saint Paul schools were doing universal feeding, based on a community level of income, not parceling it out per child. You were asked to submit your paperwork but also meh whatever.
Universal feeding is cost effective, and is cheaper that means testing each child. The bureaucracy of parceling out eligibility individually is penny wise perhaps but it’s extremely pound foolish. Bureaucracy takes away money from that food for hungry children.
I know a Republican family who have helped Sr Citizens with yard work and taking a few Vets that live nearby with trips to the grocery stores and supplements their order with some treats. Very kind of them because they do this year round but at the mention of free breakfast and lunch for school kids they flip out. I said to them not many kids were as lucky as your kids never having enough to eat. I sometimes had to bring an air sandwich on government issued bread that was not near tasty and the cheese we recd was for our once weekly treat of macaroni and cheese. For dinner it was pb&j from an industrial sized can on stale saltines. It was delish because it was better than my air sandwich. My family was poor even with both parents who worked full time as civil servants and they had another side job each. My Dad drove an ice cream truck on the nearby Army/Air Force Base and my mother worked the overnight shift waitressing on the turnpike 4 nights a week. When winter set in my Dad sold Pizza from his ice cream truck, unfortunately he drank away that income so my mother picked up a job at a chicken house for the other nights not waitressing. There were six of us kids because they were Irish Catholics. Breakfast was a small bowl of something like oatmeal. So I do know what hunger is. They were silent after I explained that neither of them nor my husband and children ever suffered that some kids don’t even get that.
I think they never met anyone who said this. By the way, I worked from the time I was 11 ( folding laundry for the mayors family) and babysat their little ones (8 kids under 11) while their oldest was a classmate in my grade at the Catholic school. I also was the first in my family to go to college because I paid for my first 2 years and finished after I married and became a parent I took night school of 6 years to finish my education. I also worked part time to pay for it. I know I’m not the only one who suffered from hunger as a child but a lot of people who made something of themselves grew up hungry too. I know we were lucky because both parents brought home leftovers from their part-time jobs. Sometimes the better off ones need to be reminded of that.
"[E]xperts think eliminating taxes on tips like will mostly benefit employers who can just lower base pay as tip income increases. More, many service workers earn so little that they don’t pay federal income tax anyway."
Income caps also need consideration, so high-end jobs don't suddenly become "tipped" positions.
Kamala Harris has been in elected positions for decades. She's been in the world's 2nd most important election for 3.5 years. The MSM has ignored her, and is now whiny complaining that she won't provide them with information about where she stands on .... whatever. A total failure on their part.
"Republicans have attacked school lunch programs. They’ve argued that since the programs aren’t means tested, the schools are feeding students from wealthier families."
Wait, don't Republicans send their kids to private schools??
Totally agree and thank you for this post. Our children are the future and if they're hungry and can't concentrate in school doesn't it start a cycle of aversion to learning and thus creating a less educated population? We see where those folks take us...
In my neighborhood the lunch staff made these meals to go because of worries of children not eating when at home. So, the family could come by and get the breakfast and lunch to go.
Yes! Our daughter got weekly food boxes, delivered to our house nearby, from her school for two years. It was delicious and helpful, since she was suddenly home all the time and eating from all the time. She attended school remotely via zoom. A loaf of bread, fruits, peanut butter, tuna, protein bars, all sorts of things. Our family looked forward to these boxes and what new treasures were in it, chuckle. Was fun and we enjoyed.
As a kid, I disliked breakfast and my mom struggled in vain to get me to eat it. At the time my elementary school had a breakfast program set up mostly to feed the kids from the nearby naval base. Lo and behold, when she gave me a dime (the program wasn’t free but even fifty something years ago families could afford to pay a dime a day) I happily trotted off to eat breakfast with my friends. So school meals benefit everyone, and removing stigma is the way to go.
Great piece that shows the tragic belief many hold that the GOP is wiser on fiscal policy than the Democratic Party. Republicans will hem and haw about crime without creating practical solutions that can not only reduce costs in dealing with societal deficiencies but also address root causes.
Compared to trump, Harris' economic policy positions are a dissertation with footnotes. I wholeheartedly agree with your inspired campaign slogan and the policies it represents. However, I refuse to give any credence to corporate media's self serving, dishonest, outrageous and nefarious reporting. “Harris is trying to run a no-substance campaign. Does she believe in anything?” This is just sick. Make it stop.
If it were not for Substacks I would not know what MSM is saying because I learned that they re not saying anything real and discontinued it. I find that out from other sources.
Ditto. Its the only way to maintain my sanity.
This is such an obvious policy - universal breakfast and lunch (breakfast is important, too!) not only does it feed kids who need it, it frees up income for families. Republicans will whine about it, but they don't like kids having free school, either.
I agree with a universal food program. Even wealthy children will benefit. When I first started teaching in an elite private school, here is what I noticed the children eating for lunch. One child has some horrid looking pizza Lunchable. Both of her parents were doctors. I was thinking this is what doctors allow their children to eat. Another boy whose mom owned a bar and his dad was judge had blue cotton candy for snack and lunch, and this was every day. He was also getting into trouble. I spent my year working on him to get his parents to send him to school with a nutritious lunch. I convinced him to use his powers of persuasion for good. Later in the year he had a sandwich and grapes in his lunch. Such a change from blue cotton candy.--spun sugar. So, contrast that with my daughter in Vienna being in a school where every child was served the lunch. She was/is a fussy eater and said the lunch was good. The teachers ate it too. I think there was a vegetarian option and a soup each day, as well as a non-vegetarian option. She ate well. An advantage of serving everyone the same food for breakfast and lunch like they do in countries like Japan, is that it can be tasty and nutritious, if you have chefs planning the meals, and everyone eats. Parents who are well off have a hard time getting their children to eat lunch if the food is not "yummy" to quote my daughter, unless everyone is eating and eating the same thing.
Here is a discussion of school lunches around the world, although I cannot imagine Norwegian kids eating the kind of bread shown in this video. https://youtu.be/pD9mk0Y_pyo?si=zB0cdY8lLuevWfmF
Thanks for another great piece (just what I’ve come to expect from PN). Obviously in the long run, taxing the wealthy will be the best way to pay for programs such as these, as you note. In addition/in the meantime, would it make sense for schools to request VOLUNTARY contributions to the program from families that can afford them?
Stigma will still be avoided, as no differentiation would be made between children in the cafeteria, and no burdensome means test would dissuade needy families from taking part. And yet families with sufficient means could still contribute toward the costs of the program (and I do think at least some would do just that). Is this a crazy idea?
It's not a crazy idea; the problem is that US schools are badly segregated by income, so the schools that would need the most money for the most students would be asking for donations from a group of parents with relatively limited resources.
You are not crazy and thanks for the kind words!
I agree that not taxing tips is not a good tax policy. The minimum wage needs to be raised and the subminimum wage for workers who receive tips is horrid. I also agree that free breakfast and lunch meals at schools is necessary. We could easily provide funding for schools by taxing the wealthy and raising taxes on corporations. And, I suspect that if there were an option to pay $5 on your Federal or state tax return to help fund this program people would contribute. Republicans are not pro-family, they are pro-control freaks.
Florida governor RonDeSantis has rejected the federal summer food program for kids, calling it “welfare.” Let them eat cake.
Ron DeSantis is both a bad person and a bad governor. I hope he loses his voters as it grows out of fashion to support hateful people and more in vogue to support nice ones.
We love Tim Walz here in Minnesota! Even before this universal feeding system, many if not all Saint Paul schools were doing universal feeding, based on a community level of income, not parceling it out per child. You were asked to submit your paperwork but also meh whatever.
Universal feeding is cost effective, and is cheaper that means testing each child. The bureaucracy of parceling out eligibility individually is penny wise perhaps but it’s extremely pound foolish. Bureaucracy takes away money from that food for hungry children.
Republicans are all about the children, but only before they are born.
Not really. If the mom does not have good maternity care, which they are not about, the child's health will be affected.
Absolutely correct. I should have qualified that in my comment. Cheers.
I know a Republican family who have helped Sr Citizens with yard work and taking a few Vets that live nearby with trips to the grocery stores and supplements their order with some treats. Very kind of them because they do this year round but at the mention of free breakfast and lunch for school kids they flip out. I said to them not many kids were as lucky as your kids never having enough to eat. I sometimes had to bring an air sandwich on government issued bread that was not near tasty and the cheese we recd was for our once weekly treat of macaroni and cheese. For dinner it was pb&j from an industrial sized can on stale saltines. It was delish because it was better than my air sandwich. My family was poor even with both parents who worked full time as civil servants and they had another side job each. My Dad drove an ice cream truck on the nearby Army/Air Force Base and my mother worked the overnight shift waitressing on the turnpike 4 nights a week. When winter set in my Dad sold Pizza from his ice cream truck, unfortunately he drank away that income so my mother picked up a job at a chicken house for the other nights not waitressing. There were six of us kids because they were Irish Catholics. Breakfast was a small bowl of something like oatmeal. So I do know what hunger is. They were silent after I explained that neither of them nor my husband and children ever suffered that some kids don’t even get that.
I think they never met anyone who said this. By the way, I worked from the time I was 11 ( folding laundry for the mayors family) and babysat their little ones (8 kids under 11) while their oldest was a classmate in my grade at the Catholic school. I also was the first in my family to go to college because I paid for my first 2 years and finished after I married and became a parent I took night school of 6 years to finish my education. I also worked part time to pay for it. I know I’m not the only one who suffered from hunger as a child but a lot of people who made something of themselves grew up hungry too. I know we were lucky because both parents brought home leftovers from their part-time jobs. Sometimes the better off ones need to be reminded of that.
"[E]xperts think eliminating taxes on tips like will mostly benefit employers who can just lower base pay as tip income increases. More, many service workers earn so little that they don’t pay federal income tax anyway."
Income caps also need consideration, so high-end jobs don't suddenly become "tipped" positions.
Kids who are fed are kids who can learn.
Kamala Harris has been in elected positions for decades. She's been in the world's 2nd most important election for 3.5 years. The MSM has ignored her, and is now whiny complaining that she won't provide them with information about where she stands on .... whatever. A total failure on their part.
"Republicans have attacked school lunch programs. They’ve argued that since the programs aren’t means tested, the schools are feeding students from wealthier families."
Wait, don't Republicans send their kids to private schools??
Totally agree and thank you for this post. Our children are the future and if they're hungry and can't concentrate in school doesn't it start a cycle of aversion to learning and thus creating a less educated population? We see where those folks take us...
“The US did have a national universal free school lunch program during the height of the pandemic.“ When nobody was going to school?
In my neighborhood the lunch staff made these meals to go because of worries of children not eating when at home. So, the family could come by and get the breakfast and lunch to go.
It continued even when schools reopened. My grandchildren’s’ schools have continued to offer free breakfast and lunch.
Yes! Our daughter got weekly food boxes, delivered to our house nearby, from her school for two years. It was delicious and helpful, since she was suddenly home all the time and eating from all the time. She attended school remotely via zoom. A loaf of bread, fruits, peanut butter, tuna, protein bars, all sorts of things. Our family looked forward to these boxes and what new treasures were in it, chuckle. Was fun and we enjoyed.
As a kid, I disliked breakfast and my mom struggled in vain to get me to eat it. At the time my elementary school had a breakfast program set up mostly to feed the kids from the nearby naval base. Lo and behold, when she gave me a dime (the program wasn’t free but even fifty something years ago families could afford to pay a dime a day) I happily trotted off to eat breakfast with my friends. So school meals benefit everyone, and removing stigma is the way to go.