Fewer Poor Kids

Hello, I hope that your summer is going well.

As you know, I hate the big dark bill that passed earlier this summer because it reduces health care coverage, hurts our move toward sustainable energy, and explodes the deficit in service of tax cuts for the least needy among us. It’s a step in the wrong direction.

But buried in that bill was a bit of good news. The child tax credit was set to drop to $1,000 per child per year starting next year — but instead, it was expanded from $1,000 per child in the absence of any legislation to $2,200 per child. A family with 2 kids earning the full credit that makes below a certain amount of money will get a tax break of $4,400 per year. This will put more money into the hands of millions of families and improve the situations of more than 60 million children in America.

Perhaps best of all, the new higher child tax credit is permanent and tied to inflation, so the $2,200 per child will go up over time. And there’s no expiration date; this will be the new floor.

Think about that family trying to make ends meet paying for food, clothes, books, and maybe childcare for two or three children. Everything is tight. Then, they get a few hundred dollars back that they weren’t expecting, maybe even an extra thousand dollars. They can clear a bill or two and take the family out on a little roadtrip to visit friends or relatives the next state over because they can now pay for the gas. Imagine that playing out among millions of families across the country. Life is just a little bit better, they can breathe a little bit easier. And this will happen every year for that family, with the amount going up with their costs.

The total is about $80 billion a year going back into the pockets of families making their lives better. That’s a lot of relief and many roadtrips. Every year, going up over time.

Chances are, you helped make this happen.

What do I mean? 5 years ago I started Humanity Forward, an advocacy org that lobbies for anti-poverty solutions in Washington D.C. I started it based on this article I read in the Onion a number of years earlier titled “American People Hire High-Powered Lobbyist to Push Interests in Congress.” This was funny, but also I thought kind of brilliant.

Back in 2020, I was searching for ways to channel the energy from my presidential campaign toward real solutions. Humanity Forward was a cash relief organization during COVID and gave away $8 million to thousands of families. Then, it became an advocacy org that meets with members of Congress on bipartisan or nonpartisan policies on things like reducing child poverty. Over the last 5 years, Humanity Forward has met with dozens of legislators hundreds of times making the case for the child tax credit. Republicans like the child tax credit because it helps working-class families with children, which obviously includes millions of their constituents. Democrats like it because it reduces deprivation in diverse communities.

Now, I personally would prefer more dramatic measures than where this landed. But I’m also someone who is focused on the immediate and concrete and taking advantage of whatever opportunities arise; in this case millions of families are going to benefit from a reinforced and permanent higher child tax credit starting in 2026. That's a real win.

$80 billion a year to families with children, in perpetuity.

So how did you make this happen? If you are reading this, there is a significant chance that you donated to or supported my presidential campaign. That campaign led directly to Humanity Forward. No Yang for President, no Humanity Forward, and quite possibly, no permanently higher child tax credit for millions of families.

Does it make sense that a campaign in 2019 and 2020 would lead to an improvement to legislation 5 years later? When you reflect on it, it kind of does.

Sometimes, good things happen because of years of hard work, in ways you might not expect.

I’ll be honest, this is perhaps the biggest highlight of my career. I wake up every morning trying to figure out how to make people’s lives a little better. Who can say that they improved the situation for millions of needy families? We helped make that happen. Think about that.

So first, thank you.

Second, congratulations! If you helped my campaign, this is your win too.

You’ve got to take the victories whenever you can. You never know what or when the next one will be.

This long-in-the-making improvement to the child tax credit proved that we can indeed make awesome things happen. I’ll confess though that I’m eager for more. What more can we do? Let’s keep pushing and find out. Poverty is the mindkiller, but it is eminently solvable. Let's do all we can.

To support Humanity Forward in their ongoing work, click here – it may be the highest leverage money you will ever invest or give. Thank you for helping make it possible in the first place! For my interview with Sam Bloch about his new book “Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource” click here. To see what Forward is doing in your area, click here. The next Offline Party is on August 21^st in New York City! Remember to look up.