"that it’s just simply not government’s role to use its resources, including the tax dollars it collects from all of us, to address people’s needs."

Within this phrase lies the crux of our problem, and will remain so until we sort out the federal role in our finances. Hiding in plain sight in the list of powers given the federal government, even extended as a "mandate", in Article 1: Section 8, is the ability to "coin" our nation's currency "for the common welfare". This ability is not restrained by our ability to collect taxes. In fact, the deficit spending of Congress is the only net source of any store of value in our economy.

If our federal government was more than a bought and paid for service to oligarchs the federal government would simply make separate payments to those in need and let the states explain why they thought it wise to cut badly needed support from their own people. It's much more difficult from the position of doing the cutting.