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    peter edelman

    The Poverty-Fighting President of My Dreams

    The Poverty-Fighting President of My Dreams

    In my dream, the next president is an anti-poverty president because he or she knows deep down that the way we think about poverty in America is wrong, the way we treat people in poverty is wrong, and therefore what we do about poverty is more off the mark than need be.

    Greg Kaufmann
    Oct 26, 2016

    In my dream, the next president is an anti-poverty president because he or she knows deep down that the way we think about poverty in America is wrong, the way we treat people in poverty is wrong, and therefore what we do about poverty is more off the mark than need be.

    My president declares his or herself the Educator-in-Chief on poverty, and uses the bully pulpit to teach Americans. She tells the stories of struggling people and their experiences, and regularly takes us to communities that are used to being dismissed, demonized, and disempowered.

    Keep ReadingShow Less
    Opinion
    Tethered to Corporate Capitalism, Neither Party Willing to Eradicate Poverty

    Tethered to Corporate Capitalism, Neither Party Willing to Eradicate Poverty

    If we have learned anything in recent years, it is that the interests of the wealthy almost always win out.

    Jake Johnson
    Sep 26, 2016

    After her loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary, few predicted that Hillary Clinton would leave the world of presidential politics. On the contrary, it was widely believed that she would make another run for the White House.

    Anticipating such a run, the renowned political scientist and activist Frances Fox Piven, along with sociologist Fred Block, penned an open letter calling on Clinton, who had just left the State Department, to "step forward" and "launch a national debate about poverty and welfare."

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    Opinion
    Punishing the Poor: Welfare Reform and Its Democratic Apologists

    Punishing the Poor: Welfare Reform and Its Democratic Apologists

    A defining feature of Ronald Reagan's unsuccessful 1976 presidential bid--a feature that would animate his political career from that point forward--was his theatrical depiction of welfare recipients.

    Jake Johnson
    Aug 29, 2016

    A defining feature of Ronald Reagan's unsuccessful 1976 presidential bid--a feature that would animate his political career from that point forward--was his theatrical depiction of welfare recipients.

    While he demonized the welfare system as a whole in familiar terms, Reagan's ire was largely directed toward single mothers, and his racially coded language was sufficient to make clear his overarching intentions.

    Keep ReadingShow Less
    Opinion

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