"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." -- Sinclair Lewis
"One reason is we're still in a recession," Edelman says. "We've had a change in our economy over the last 40 years that has produced a flood of low-wage jobs."One half of all jobs in the U.S. today now pay less than $35,000 a year. Adjusted for inflation, that's one of the lowest rates for American workers in five decades.There's a common perception that somebody who's poor or living below the poverty level is lazy or simply living off government handouts. Edelman says the actual average poor person is working."And working as hard as she or he possibly can," he says. "And particularly in the recession, not able to get work or steady work. There are certainly people who make bad choices, but the fundamental question in our economy is the number of people who are doing absolutely everything they can to support their families-- and they just can't make it."Back when LBJ declared his war on poverty, being poor looked very different than it does today. Traveling in Mississippi with Robert Kennedy in 1967, Edelman saw children with bloated bellies and sores that wouldn't heal. There was real hunger and real malnutrition."The food stamp program is a tremendous success," he says. "But since that time, it turns out that children are the poorest age group in our country because their families-- typically single moms trying to make it-- can't do so because of this flood of low-wage work that we have."Many economists say that when the economy does recover, a lot of the jobs that were lost won't be coming back. That suggests the possibility of significantly high unemployment for a long time-- maybe even a permanently large class of Americans who live in poverty. Blackwell says we can act to prevent that future. "And it's not rocket science.""We know now that by 2018, 45 percent of all jobs in this nation will require at least an associate's degree," she says. "We could invest in the system of training-- particularly focusing on community colleges and preparing people to go to four-year institutions and improving our high school education.""We actually have extraordinary infrastructure in this country, from the manufacturing base we once had," she continues. "We need to retool it, we need to refit it, we need to make sure that it's ready for the kind of advanced manufacturing that we're seeing develop in other countries."
"The working poor are invisible in this country. Millions of Americans go to work every day, but are still unable to provide for their families without assistance. In 2011, 10 million people worked but were still below the official U.S. poverty line. And millions more made over the designated poverty line, but still struggled to pay the bills and put food on the table. West Virginians know this all too well. We have both the second-lowest median household income in the nation and the sixth-highest poverty rate. It's devastating to me that many of these hard-working Americans have bought the lie that their struggles with poverty are due to some fault of their own."Conservative lawmakers talk incessantly about personal responsibility, and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. That's easy to say, but harder to do if you don't have boots. Most people do the best they can with the hand they've been dealt. They just want steady work, a home to live in, access to a doctor and a little money left over for retirement. But Republican politicians will tell you the poor are lazy and just want more and more handouts. On the contrary, many of the working poor want to do better. But the corporations that pay for Republicans' campaigns want cheap labor instead, so conservatives vote against increasing the minimum wage, oppose collective bargaining and cut funds for higher education."I believe that success takes hard work, but the government can help by providing the tools. Getting a college degree may require working your way through school and constant studying, but lawmakers can help by providing access to Pell Grants and low interest-rate student loans. Caring for your children and bringing in an income may mean sleepless nights, but the government can help with childcare subsidies and the WIC nutrition program. "I'm running for Congress because I'm tired of politicians who forget the people they are supposed to represent. My opponent continuously votes against the interests of the working poor because he's looking out for the interest of the top 1%, the people who put him in office. Millionaire politicians may not believe they owe anything to the poor in their district, but I owe everything to the everyday West Virginians who asked me to run. In Congress, I'll vote to protect safety-net programs, protect access to higher education and encourage collective bargaining. We all deserve a chance to make it into the middle class. That's part of the American Dream."
Labels: poverty, Sue Thorn
posted by DownWithTyranny @ 2:00 PM 2 comments | Reddit
Now that's why I support and will vote for Sue Thorn in WV-01 in November...McKinley just voted to continue the Bush tax cuts. He cares nothing about the working people and families here in this district.
Political elites ignore the interests of the poor?I'm not so sure about that. The political elite almost unanimously, in rare, true bipartisan fashion, destroyed ACORN.Kicking a groups in the face is NOT ignoring them.John Puma
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2 Comments:
Now that's why I support and will vote for Sue Thorn in WV-01 in November...McKinley just voted to continue the Bush tax cuts. He cares nothing about the working people and families here in this district.
Political elites ignore the interests of the poor?
I'm not so sure about that. The political elite almost unanimously, in rare, true bipartisan fashion, destroyed ACORN.
Kicking a groups in the face is NOT ignoring them.
John Puma
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