Nicholas Kristoff has and is one of America’s finest news writers. I have referred to him several times in the past.

An Opinion Piece written by him appeared in the Sunday edition of the New York Times on August 2, 2026. Quite lengthy. I paraphrase and otherwise share it with you. Adding my own comments occasionally.

MEET THE AMERICANS WHO CAN’T AFFORD HAIRCUTS OR TOILET PAPER

The column is the result of a one week one thousand mile road trip that took Kristoff through the States of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Kristoff first wrote of Trinity Goodman, a 44 year old Oklahoma woman. She wore a bandage on one arm. She sells blood plasma two times a week. She had $3.78 in her checking account, one cent in her saving account, and six pennies in her piggy bank. “Her assets.”

She had recently lived with a man for 5 years who only kept her for sexual reasons.

Presently a local non profit was recently paying her $150 per month for housing. Resolved the sex problem she had for five years.

She is also getting $298 a month in food stamps. A problem exists nevertheless. The $298 cannot be used for toilet paper or personal hygiene items. She also has no funding for a haircut. She has never had her hair professionally cut.

Though many Americans are thriving, many have been left behind. We are blind as to the number left behind.

The problem has been magnified by Trump initiated cuts in food stamps, Medicaid, health funding for children, pregnancy preventive initiatives, and other social programs. On top of which Americans are experiencing very high gas and food prices.

Republicans are imposing tougher work requirements for benefits. Creates problems, however. They are costly to administer and drive people deeper into poverty.

Many require food stamps. They are desperate. Desperately hungry. Two thirds of Americans consider groceries unaffordable.

Normally Kristoff takes this trip in the Summer in Africa. Things have become so bad in the U.S. now that he opted for the U.S. trip this year. America has to be made aware! Pressure has to be imposed politically!

Getting back to Trinity Goodman, she reported she was raped and sexually abused beginning at the age of 6 or 7.

Sounds shocking! It is.

A change from 10 years and longer ago when our concern was with teenagers being forced into prostitution. The pendulum has swung. I find in my readings an increasing number of minors beginning at age 2 and 3. Being sold into prostitution by their parents. Hard to believe. Nevertheless for real.

Returning to food. A major problem. As a result of Trump’s cuts, 1.5 million children have lost food availability. Also 3 million Americans have lost Obamacare health insurance since the beginning of this year because of Republican cuts to the subsidies used to pay for the coverage.

People overall finding it harder to pay for food and rent. One woman said, “The more I work, the harder stuff gets.”

The cut in benefits for struggling Americans is a desire to trim all federal spending. Hard to square it with the expense of the Iran War and subsidies for private planes and tax cuts for the rich. Poor Americans get the spending blame when a huge part of the spending is for and on behalf of the extremely wealthy.

Kristoff suggests it is the rich who are guilty of the manipulations.

Tax audits are inflicted mostly on the poor than the rich. An example is Humphrey County, Mississippi, with a majority black population and a median household income of $26,000. Humphrey County has the highest percentage of audits in the U.S.

The age group nationally most likely to live in poverty are children. Especially those 2 years old and under. The U.S. is failing them.

Trump tried to eliminate Head Start, the federal program with bipartisan support. He backed off the idea when it became obvious he could not get the votes. However the sneak Trump is, he withheld $12 billion from the program for several months causing great hardship.

Democrats are failing also. They talk a good game, but talk is not enough. Correct action is. The three States with the largest rate of  unsheltered homelessness are blue ones: California, Oregon and Hawaii.

Democrats must look in the mirror to see their own failures when it comes to helping those left behind.

Many working Americans feel left behind, betrayed. Our politicians are looking at the wrong things. For example, they have been complacent about 1.3 million Americans who have died of overdoses since 2000. That is roughly the number of American service members who have died from all wars in American history.

Homelessness begins with foster care. Which Kristoff views is a government system of child abuse. One 31 year old Oklahoma woman he interviewed shared her earliest memory with him. Men sexually abusing her when she was 3 or 4. There it is again! A for real problem! Her first pregnancy was at the age of 12.

Some Southern blacks think back 100 years or more. And believe things were better then for blacks than today. Would you believe? Some believe civil rights were even better back then. They are still seeking to find “opportunity” in 2026.

The U.S. military was long considered a place of opportunity by blacks for blacks. No more under Hegseth.

A longer than normal blog today. Kristoff’s Opinion Piece extremely long. Worth the length. Interesting and precise issues raised.

I hope your attention has been specifically aroused by some of the the issues touched upon.

Enjoy your day!

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