Politics - News Analysis

Matt Gaetz Slammed After Suggesting Poor People Don’t Deserve the Same Access to Baby Formula as Rich Families

The fact that the U.S. is dealing with a serious shortage of baby formula is becoming a crisis, but Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) has a simple solution: eff those kids. According to the New Civil Rights Movement, Gaetz said this week that babies born into low-income families shouldn’t have the same access to food as those born into wealthy, or even families with moderate means. He even voted against a bill because he said, it would take food away from wealthier families.

Gaetz is reinforcing the Republican mantra that abortion is wrong but once a child is born — “Oh well, good luck kid. You’re on your own.”

The Republicans have been doggedly attacking the Biden administration and Democrats for weeks now with nonsensical allegations about the very real baby formula shortage. They continually try to find ways to blame President Joe Biden and others within his administration. And yet when Democrats presented a pair of bills on the House floor to help ease this crisis, Republicans were only too happy to vote against the measures, refusing to help impoverished families.

Matt Gaetz has no problem with a rich baby getting formula before a poor baby.

Over half the baby formula sold in the U.S. is purchased via government assistance programs like WIC, which is the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, the NCRM reports.

But Gaetz is saying families who are dependent on such governmental assistance should step back to allow “hard-working” Americans when it comes to buying baby formula.

David Badash, writing for the NRCM notes:

“Equating wealth with being hard-working is a fallacy, as is saying those who are low-income do not work hard.”

Badash also adds that “WIC narrows and controls the amount of baby formula that families using it can buy, but it also specifies the brands and even stores they can use.”

One measure that’s been set forward, H.R.7791, known as the Access To Baby Formula Act of 2022 seeks to temporarily reduce these restrictions but Gaetz is against making baby formula more accessible to families “because they are poor,” and because they aren’t “hard-working,” Badash notes.

“H.R. 7791 would make baby formula shortages worse for most Americans,” Gaetz tweeted. “It will allow WIC to utilize a far greater portion of the baby formula market, crowding out many hard-working American families.”

Boy, Gaetz is a real prize, isn’t he? Especially with all those allegations that he was sex-trafficking a minor. Because this is the kind of person he is. He was also one of a number of GOPers who worked to upend the 2020 election, which fortunately failed. But when someone has ethics like that, why would they care if the children of poor families go unfed?

True to form, he was one of nine Republicans to vote against the bill. But the good and somewhat unusual thing is that most Republicans seemed to view this bill as innocuous enough so they allowed it to pass through unanimous consent and this meant a vote wasn’t required. It will now head to Biden to become law.

Florida rep. Matt Gaetz was among the 11 Florida Republicans who voted against a bill that would provide emergency funding to ease the baby formula shortage.

And believe me, Gaetz’s callous tweet caused considerable ire on Twitter, as you can see below.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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