We Need To Attack Poverty Now

progressive.org — Candidates this season must stop ignoring a huge moral issue: poverty. All we seem to hear about these days is the middle class and the upper class. Democrats claim to be champions of the middle class, while Republicans are defending tax cuts for the richest of the rich. But few candidates are talking about helping those in the rising ranks of the poor. In 2008, 13.2 percent of the population was living below the poverty line. But in 2009, the percentage of poor people skyrocketed to 14.3 percent. Today, one in seven Americans is poor. For our children, it’s even worse: one in five. It’s not all the recession’s fault, either.

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