An Anti-Poverty Bill

"THE MODERN CONSERVATIVE IS ENGAGED IN ONE OF MAN'S OLDEST EXERCISES IN MORAL PHILOSOPHY; THAT IS, THE SEARCH FOR A SUPERIOR MORAL JUSTIFICATION FOR SELFISHNESS." -- JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH

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On a personal level, I know many generous Republicans who are concerned about poverty in our country. They see the incessant and strident efforts of the GOP to cut social programs as mean-spirited, especially when those cuts are offset by huge giveaways to the rich. They believe in the necessity of welfare-to-work rules, as do I, but they’re astute enough to realize that its nearly impossible for the working poor to provide for themselves in a decent manner without government assistance, and they understand that not all people are employable.

On a national level, the number of groups that are speaking out and challenging our government to do something about poverty encourages me. One group, the Community Action Partnership, the nation’s largest anti-poverty group, is pushing the idea of a comprehensive bill to eradicate poverty in America. Derrick Span, the national president, believes, "Nothing short of a major anti-poverty bill will suffice. The bill must be fully funded to be able to lift those in poverty out and to keep those out from slipping in."

While welfare-to-work initiatives of the Clinton administration moved people off welfare rolls, Span said, they also moved the poor into jobs with little to no chance for advancement. If the wages of the working poor had kept pace with the salary increases of CEOs over the last 15 years, he estimated, everybody making minimum wage back then would be bringing home about $48,000 a year today.

Poverty in America is seen in our streets and in our homes. Span describes what he calls the three faces of poverty.

First are the people who live on corners and beg for money. He called them the traditional face of poverty. "They are chronically unemployed, sometimes mentally ill, and many are felons," Span said. "They beg for dinner by day while searching for a warm place to sleep at night."

Second are the working poor. "You know who they are," he said. "Why are they an aberration? It’s because you’re not supposed to be able to say ‘working and poor’ in the United States. They’re working a full-time job for part-time wages."

"The truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as menial labor," Span said. "The only thing menial is the salary the employer attaches to it."

Third are those people just barely keeping things together. "They are individuals one, two and three paychecks away from slipping below the American dream," Span said. "They’re just one step away from utter destitution."

Our most vulnerable citizens need the relief an anti-poverty bill could give them, but Washington needs to know Americans consider the bill a priority. Speak out and tell Congress its time to spend some money here at home. Remind them that we’re tired of spending billions in Iraq and giving tax breaks to the rich while our own people starve.