

Child Tax Credit blocked by senators playing politics with children's lives.
One in five West Virginia children lives in poverty. 93% of children in the state are eligible for Child Tax Care (CTC). Joe Manchin wants to cut the CTC funds helping children.
Understand the Hunger Games that Senators play with children's lives to please their corporate donors. This map shows the number of children living in poverty and the Senators supposed to represent them.


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The politics of hunger
"On Dec. 15, CTC payments went out to 181,000 West Virginia families, according to Treasury Department figures. The payments averaged $446 and reached 305,000 children. Those payments could end this month, if the Biden package doesn’t pass. Allen warned that 50,000 children in the state are in danger of slipping into poverty if the payments lapse, or the negotiations drag on so long that the Jan. 15 payment doesn’t happen. One in five West Virginia children is estimated to live in poverty and 93% of children in the state are eligible for the CTC payments, tied for the highest rates in the country.
Studies suggest the child tax credit expansions are expected to cut child poverty by 40% — with 9 of 10 American children benefiting. All told, some 4.1 million children are on track to be lifted above the poverty line, according to analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. In West Virginia, recipients spent 52% of their CTC money on food, with 39% going toward clothing and other essentials for their children, according to a study by Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute." - AP News
Child Tax Care Credit
- Tens of millions of American households received payments of up to $300 per child, which they will continue to get each month through the end of the year.
- The impact is already being felt in households across the country — particularly as low- and working-class families can more fully benefit from the credit for the first time.
- The credit is hailed as “Social Security for our children,” linking it to one of the federal government’s most popular programs of all time.
- Initial polling has shown the advance child tax credit is incredibly popular among Democrats and Independent voters, and even wins support amongst a strong contingent of Republican voters.
- “Every Democrat voted for this tax credit and every Republican voted no,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said.


Manchin blocks Child Tax Care Credit
"Build Back Better Verges on Collapse as Manchin Attempts to Kill Child Tax Credit. "Put the bill on the floor and make him explain that he voted it down because he wanted to cut all of the money for families with children," suggested one progressive commentator. Citing an unnamed source, Manu Raju of CNN reported that Manchin (D-W.Va.) wants to "zero it out," referring to the expanded child tax credit (CTC). The Washington Post similarly reported that "Manchin hopes to defund [the CTC] from the bill in full."
Meanwhile, Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday voted in favor of a sprawling $778 billion military spending bill—the 11th consecutive Pentagon budget he's supported without complaining about the cost. The legislation easily passed in bipartisan fashion, 88-11." - Common Dreams
Republican block funds
"After the first CTC checks started arriving in July, about one-third of recipient families used the money during the first few months to pay down outstanding debt, along with paying for school supplies and child care, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sen. John Thune, the number two Republican, said his side was fine letting the policy lapse." - WGN Radio