Ignorance and Malice

 

The recent decision by Governor Larry Hogan to discontinue the federal subsidies for unemployment related to COVID is yet another example that A) he truly does not understand people who are not like him, and B) he considers his responsibility is to govern for “people like us.” I remember once defining the word “ignorance” for my young daughter as follows:

Ignorance is when you don’t know and you don’t care.

That would be Governor Hogan. 

Of course there exists the possibility that he does know but doesn’t care, which would be malice. Yes, I had a child-sized definition for that, too:

Malice is when you mean to be mean.

Today’s post is inspired by this piece by Crystal Peters at Maryland Matters. (It’s a guest post.)

Opinion: Governor’s Decision on Unemployment Benefits Hurts Women, Children, and People of Color

Take the time to read it if you can. It raises some important issues about about who exactly is relying on those benefits and what will happen when they are discontinued earlier than expected.

Embedded in this discussion is another important point:

There are also only 213,960 available slots for child care in Maryland, but 844,563 children who need it. That helps keep the cost of child care high and the availability for child care low.

So the Governor wants to force people back to work because he thinks they’re just slackers relying on the government dole. What on earth will happen to their children? Isnt the Republican Party all about “family values”? 

And why hasn’t the Governor done anything meaningful during his terms to address the critical shortage of quality childcare?

As Crystal Peters says, someone should ask him.