Poor In America-- A Large And Growing Segment Of The Population, Whose Core Interests Are Pretty Much Ignored By The Political Elites

Over the weekend I was driving to meet a friend for dinner when a report came on NPR about America's poverty-stricken-- something like 100 million of us-- a group that is basically ignored by politicians. You can listen to the whole eleven-and-a-half minute report above. Poverty in America used to be about white people and the elderly. There was more political will to solve it. Now that the face of poverty is less white and more about children and single mothers, hearts have hardened and politicians don't want to see it.

This is an awkward thing to talk about, but at one point I started a small company of my own, worked hard, got lucky, climbed the ladder and retired a wealthy man. Far wealthier than my parents had ever been. In fact, financially-speaking, there was nothing my parents could do to help me once I graduated from high school and took out loans to go to college. From that time on, it was Uncle Sam who helped me-- first with the loans, later with the food stamps. I don't think I would have ever succeeded without a helping hand from government. Later, there were years I paid over a million dollars in taxes. No one enjoys that. But I never, ever, ever begrudged it either. I was doing well for numerous reasons, but one was certainly the government. Not everyone saw it the same way that I did. Many rich people discount luck and discount what government does when they think about their own success. And the conservative movement certainly encourages that mindset and encourages a negative view of people living in poverty. While I was struggling to keep my own business afloat Reagan was president. In 1988, in a State of the Union address, he declared that the war on poverty had failed. How would he know? The Mob kept him going through easy times and hard times. The NPR report interviews poverty expert, Georgetown University Professor Peter Edelman to refute conservatives' claims that the War on Povery has failed.

"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."

Earlier today we looked at how out of touch Romney and the GOP are with women and their lives and concerns. The 100 million poor Americans aren't all Democrats. But Romney and the Republicans have no way of relating to them whatsoever (other than in trying to disenfranchise them), at least not in economic and financial terms and the Democratic Establishment either takes them for granted or condescends to them entirely.

Sue Thorn is running for Congress in northern West Virginia, the state's first congressional district. Sue isn't part of "the Democratic Establishment." She's an independent-minded populist and a community activist in an area where the poverty rate is 17% and where the median income in approximately $30,000. Her opponent, incumbent David McKinley, is a multimillionaire who has a record of veiled hostility towards ordinary working families and open hostility towards the poor. I called her and asked her to about poverty in her own district and what role government can play in alleviating it. She had a lot more to say than I expected.

"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."

Sue is one of the congressional candidates endorsed by Blue America and if you can help her fund her campaign, even with a small contribution, it would be very much appreciated.