Fighting Poverty

The other day a friend of mine said, “Why can’t our leaders sit down and just work on solving our problems?”

Today Eduardo Porter, an economic columnist for the Times, reported on just such an effort.  After meeting together for months, economic advisors to both Republicans and Democrats issued a statement in December calling for an increase in the minimum wage along with a job requirement attached to the food stamp program.

These liberals and conservatives also recommended increasing the earned-income tax credit for adults without children.  They agreed on more federal investment in early childhood education and in community colleges.  They supported the “common core.”

Where would the money come from?  Cutting corporate tax breaks and individual tax deductions that benefit mostly the wealthy, like farm subsidies and mortgage interest tax deductions would be a start.

Divisions are deep.  Conservatives and liberals don’t even agree on what causes poverty.  Liberals generally see the cause as larger than individuals.  Globalization, poor education, lack of parental resources, discrimination, and the judicial system cause poverty.

Conservatives see the cause as a lack of personal responsibility and government programs which increase dependence.  

I’m more on the liberal side (surprise, surprise), but what impresses me is that the two sides were able to agree on as much as they did.  Now if we could get Congress to sit down and work on these issues.  Unfortunately, given the polarization in this country, don’t hold your breath.