The government shutdown has escalated the US war on the poor

Today, the United States marks its 41st day of a federal government shutdown that has seen federal employees unpaid, air travel disrupted and millions of poor Americans losing food assistance.

To be sure, this is not the first time that the government of the reigning global superpower has deliberately ceased to function – although the current shutdown recently bagged the dubious distinction of being the longest in modern US history.

And this time around, the political spectacle is beyond dystopian.

In short, the suspension of government transpired as a result of a budgetary disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over draconian healthcare cuts favoured by President Donald Trump. This is the same Trump, of course, who fancied the US wealthy enough to propose a defence budge