Politics of Poverty

Barack Obama on eliminating poverty

2008-02-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

The Huffington Post recently sent an open letter to the Democratic candidates for president. Among other things, the open letter asked the candidates what their plan to eliminate poverty?

Here's Barack Obama's response:

"Rising poverty is one of the most serious issues facing America today, and I believe that inserting simplistic tag lines or one-dimensional goals are unlikely to be helpful in meeting this challenge. As president, I will build off of my life experiences as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer and elected official to make poverty eradication a top goal of my administration. I have spent my career fighting poverty and hopelessness. I am especially proud of my successful efforts on the South Side of Chicago to organize residents to clean up environmental health hazards and improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Perhaps my most notable accomplishment to fight poverty, though, came when I was an Illinois state senator and I led efforts to create the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which put $100 million directly in the pockets of working parents. The EITC has often been described as the most successful antipoverty effort in U.S. government history, and I am proud that I was able to bring both parties together to create the first EITC program in Illinois. As president, I will work everyday to retire the phrase "working poor" from our national vocabulary. My anti-poverty plan will significantly improve opportunities for millions of poor children and their parents by strengthening the economy for working Americans and providing additional resources to programs that have proven to be effective in reducing poverty. For example, my plan will expand the EITC, which is considered one of the most effective pro-work anti-poverty programs to date, to 5.8 million more Americans. Additionally, my EITC plan will increase EITC benefits for another 6.2 million Americans. I will also extend affordable, quality and portable health insurance coverage to every American and make significant investments in early childhood education to help low-income families.

"I believe strongly in ending childhood poverty. That's why I will mandate that all children have health insurance coverage and increase funding for high-quality early childhood education programs, which are considered a vital investment in improving the lives of poor children. I will also reverse the Bush Administration's repeated cuts to health care, food and housing programs that have led to an overall increase in childhood poverty over the last several years.

"I will also work to tackle concentrated poverty by building off the successful efforts of the Harlem's Children Zone in New York City, which provides comprehensive antipoverty supports to ensure that chronic poverty ends with the current generation. I will create 20 Promise Neighborhoods throughout the nation in areas that have high levels of poverty, crime and low levels of student academic achievement in cities across the nation. My Promise Neighborhoods will provide a full network of services to an entire neighborhood from birth to college. The Promise Neighborhoods will seek to engage all resident children and their parents into an achievement program based on tangible goals, including college for each and every participating student, strong physical and mental health outcomes for children as well as retention of meaningful employment and parenting schools for parents. These efforts will help finally break the cycle of poverty that has lasted for too long in America, and help the next generation of children succeed and prosper.

"My anti-poverty agenda reflects my experiences working directly with low-income families, government and the private sector to provide additional opportunities to more Americans. I have learned that government alone cannot eradicate poverty in American - rather, it is our responsibility to empower individuals to make responsible decisions for their well-being and to engage the private sector which has much to gain by helping all Americans succeed. That's why I will invest $1 billion in transitional jobs and career pathways programs that engage businesses because businesses often realize that helping their low-income workers succeed means that the business itself will succeed. I will also improve supports for low-income mothers and fathers, to help empower them to take responsibility for the success for their children and families. I'll pass the Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act, a bill I introduced last year that will provide more financial support to fathers who make the responsible choice to help raise their children and crack down on the fathers who don't. And I'll help new mothers with their new responsibilities by expanding a pioneering program known as the Nurse-Family Partnership that offers home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income mothers and mothers-to-be. My plan will assist approximately 570,000 first-time mothers each year.

Follow the link to read the Obama's full response to the Huffington Post's Open Letter

Coming soon -- Hillary Clinton's response.

What is a concrete tangible expression of poverty?

2008-02-07T10:13:00.001-08:00

Kathleen Jamieson is an expert on U.S. politics and a regular guest on Bill Moyers Journal.

Recently Bill Moyers talked with Ms. Jamieson about John Edwards' failed presidential campaign. He asked her why Edwards' focus on poverty did not seem to gain political traction. I thought her answer was insightful and thought provoking:

"I don't think the argument about income inequality has found its concrete tangible expression that lets the country understand the nature of the problem. Income inequality is a-- is an academic abstraction . . . .

"But there are moments in which you grasp a problem in the particular and the problem won't let you go after that. There is one of those moments in the 1960 campaign interestingly enough, when John Kennedy, a wealthy candidate, says that he learned of children who took part of their school lunch home so that there would be food at home for the children. Occasionally, there are little vignettes that just simply cut through and they grab the moment. And suddenly, you understand something."

I think this is right. When we talk about poverty in this country we seemed trapped in cliches and false assumptions. This is particularly true when we talk about homelessness. As a result, it is difficult to have a productive conversation about the causes of poverty, and what we as a society can do about it.

We need to find a way to break these assumptions. We need to find and convincingly articulate a concrete tangible expression of poverty that unsettles the stereotypes and false assumptions that pass for truth.

Follow the link to watch Moyers' interview of Jamieson.

Free lunch

2008-01-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Bill Moyers recently interviewed David Cay Johnston, the author of

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense and Stick You with the Bill.

Moyers' inteview with Johnston was excellent. Here's a highlight:

Johnston: There's one party in Washington. It's the party of money. It has different wings and factions. But Washington is the party of money. And the wealthiest people in America, the large corporations in America, are busy milking the government for everything they can get. And you are paying the price of their free lunch.

Watch the entire interview here.

Bill Moyers Journal is on your local PBS channel on Friday nights, but you can also (and should) watch/listen or read about the show on Bill Moyers' website.

What's your political compass?

2008-01-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting website that you may have already seen. It asks you a handful of questions about today's political issues, and then measures your politics against the field of presidential candidates.

Check it out here.

Politics of Poverty

2008-01-19T04:57:00.001-08:00

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