Lisa McCormick is calling on Congress to address hunger

The U.S. is the world's largest exporter of food but as many as 30 million adults and 12 million children are living in food-insecure households, so New Jersey progressive activist Lisa McCormick is calling on Congress to take swift action to address the hunger crisis.

"There is no good reason why millions of Americans are hungry while our federal government is sending billions of dollars overseas to finance the purchase of weapons for war," said McCormick. "Wages in the U.S. are too low and the distribution of our nation's wealth is dangerously unfair. The pandemic revealed weaknesses in our health system and the terrible economic disparities we have simply accepted as they have gotten worse over the last four decades."

"In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment, and food insecurity soared," said McCormick. "In 2021, 53 million people turned to food banks and community programs for help putting food on the table. While things have begun to settle down there are still massive numbers of people struggling to get enough to eat."

"Most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living so they are not able to imagine how it feels to be insecure but this is a very real problem," said McCormick. "Millions of people in America are just one job loss, missed paycheck, or medical emergency away from hunger. That is a shocking and disheartening reality that we have a responsibility to rectify but too many political candidates seem unaware and unconcerned."

"Food and water should not be partisan issues. Americans must elect leaders who are committed to working to address hunger," said McCormick. "Congress must not fail to act but American voters need to speak out because families across this nation are counting on us to help them make ends meet during the greatest public health crisis of our generation.

"With inflation on the rise and supply chains backlogged, families have been turning to food banks, charities, and government programs," said McCormick. "Those services require attention but our country has suffered a serious decline as a direct consequence of reckless trickle-down policies that have utterly failed to accomplish any of their promised benefits. A long-term solution is in order, so I am calling on the White House and Congress to reverse Reaganomics."

McCormick said the neoliberal economic policies promoted by President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s were essentially continued by every administration that followed, both Democrat and Republican.

These economic policies included greater military spending, restricting domestic government spending, and cutting federal taxes on high-income individuals or capital gains, all of which had a harmful impact on the greater populace.

"Corporate Democrats have proved over and over again that they care more about personal interests than representing the 99 percent," said McCormick. "There are many such politicians who are like wolves in sheep's clothing, but they are noticeable because they won't make the rich pay a fair share of the tax burden."

McCormick is urging Americans to elect a different kind of Democrats – progressives who will fight in Congress to enact life-saving policies, not to line their own wallets.

"Restraining government action where and when it is needed and giving all the advantages to those who are already wealthy is leading to the destruction of our way of life," said McCormick. "Fighting back is the only way to restore the promise of the American Dream and ensure access to democracy for all. We cannot remain a nation divided between the very rich and very poor, so we must reset the boundaries to promote liberty, security, prosperity, and justice for all."

After all, says McCormick, "Everyone has to eat."