I live in a small town in downstate, central Illinois, about 6k residents. Lots of hunters and guns, I see one side fighting and moving the country left and I’m concerned, that’s all, I’m just looking for answers
You're seeing a drummed up faction
If you haven’t figured out that the left have never fixed anything that they claimed to want to and that they constantly lie by omission and commission and that they call evil anyone who merely disagrees with them, you may not be paying enough attention.
What they mean about the child poverty thing is that they have more people than ever to whom they are giving more of your money than ever. Tell them that since they fixed the problem you will defund all of the now presumably no longer needed programs and watch them scream.