Just as the Trump budget calls for zeroing out the money that would go to Meals on Wheels, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, it demands elimination of funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP).
[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/17/program-that-keeps-families-from-freezing-is-only-lower-impact-if-you-ignore-all-the-families-who-didnt-freeze/?utm_term=.800466c02037[/url]
What do we know about households that receive LIHEAP? The most recent federally-funded survey of recipients was conducted in 2011. At that time, more than 90 percent of LIHEAP households include either children, disabled people or senior citizens -- individuals at particular risk for temperature-related health issues. One-fifth of LIHEAP households are home to military veterans.
Recipient families are low income, and tend to skimp on spending elsewhere to keep the lights on. "Nearly one third reported that they went without food, over 40 percent sacrificed medical care, and one quarter had someone in the home become sick because the home was too cold."
Charles M. Blow of The New York Times asked what kind of a monster makes these proposals to cut funds for the neediest Americans.
= new reply since forum marked as read
