I really admire the work that Edwards is doing

[Crunchy Frog]

with respect to the issue of poverty. I confess to not knowing a great deal about Edwards and would like it if some of his supporters could give me some more information about his activities in this area.

Thank you in advance.

[Wetzelbill]

1. Edwards is a great guy. Genuinely.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. I'm glad someone talks about it

It's surely obvious that not many other politicians do. I really like him myself and I thought he and Kerry were a great team together.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. I agree that this is an issue that Democrats

need to talk about. We have always been the party that was committed to alleviating poverty and providing opportunities to all Americans. This principle is so fundamental, that abandoning it by becoming corporatist ourselves would spell the death of our party.

I find it extremely alarming that so many working class people have been voting Republican. If we are straying so far from our core values and constituencies that working class and poor people can't tell the difference in the parties, other than that the Pubs talk about "morals", it means we are seriously off course.

I'm counting on Edwards to work hard to get this party back on course with its core values, and with its core constituents. We need to give working class and poor people a reason to vote for us again, and a reason to believe that it will make a real difference in their lives.

[CarolNYC]

3. Well, I don't know enough about what he's doing to add

to the conversation in that way....but my Mom and sister-in-law did meet him at one of those back porch things. He held my little niece and they took a picture for the paper....That was kind of cool. :)

I do hope someone with some specific info drops in so this thread doesn't drop too quickly.

[Crunchy Frog]

5. I hope so too.

By the way, would you happen to have a copy of that picture Edwards with your niece? I'd really like to see that, I bet they're so cute together.

How come you always manage to get your young family members into pictures with prominent Democrats?

[CarolNYC]

6. I don't know....just lucky.

The back porch thing was really neat because they had it only a few doors down from my brother's house. It wasn't really publicized much and they only knew about it because it happened to be the home of my sister-in-law's dentist or something like that.

They didn't actually get to go to the gathering but a bunch of people stood outside waiting to greet the Senator and my mom and sister-in-law and twin nieces walked over to see him.

I'll have to ask my sis-in-law if they sent her the picture. I know they did use it in some TV piece that was on about Edwards not long ago.

[CarolNYC]

21. the picture

Spoke to my sister-in-law and the photographer never sent it. :(

The Kerry photogs were nice enough to email my sister the pictures he took of her kids with Gen Clark (my avatar is one of them. :)). Actually asked her if they could use that photo in Kerry literature but I don't know if they ever did. They also got her and the kids passes to the Clinton-Kerry rally in Philly a few days later. Quite nice.

[Sparkly]

4. Poverty is so important

both in examining what contributes to it, and what results from it.

I'm glad Edwards is spearheading a project to study it.

[CarolNYC]

7. And it's not much talked about either.

Edwards is to be commedned for bringing the issue to the forefront. Someone has to speak for the least among us. Lord knows, those in power now care nothing for them.

[Sparkly]

9. Clinton understood it, too.

He talked about "investments" toward decreasing poverty, in terms of what we got back dollar for dollar (since so many can't see the larger moral issue involved).

The costs of poverty are HUGE overall. And for this country to have people working 40+ hours a week and living in poverty is just plain WRONG.

Meanwhile they talk about them as the "less productive members of society." Pisses me off.

I'm glad Edwards has made it a focus.

[AmericanDream]

22. But he failed to act on it....

Words without deeds are fruitless ... I do not contest that he did indeed understand the problem. But the problem with clinton was his unwillingness to take the lead based on his own convictions. When you are always looking for a third way, a middle ground, it is hard for you to find solutions to problems for which there is only one, right way. Clinton's welfare plan was a supposed "third way" and it was a disaster for this country.

We need real reform in this country... and that doesn't mean simply expanding the welfare state... instead, it means fixing the very causes of poverty that are pervasive in our societal and economic institutions. That is why I like Edwards work and his initial proposals. As he says, "people want a hand up, not a hand out." A majority of people in poverty actually work, but for them even work doesn't pay... that is the problem; those at the bottom are robbed in every way possible: according to the brookings report people in less affluent areas pay more for gas and other consumer products than those in the well-off neighborhoods. Would someone tell me how that works out? Well, it is because in this society the protections are all for the businesses and corporations, and not enough for the common person who cannot decipher all the little corporate tricks being applied to them everyday.

"And for this country to have people working 40+ hours a week and living in poverty is just plain WRONG."

Exactly! Amen.... I'm glad Edwards is being strongly vocal about this major issue.

[tishaLA]

8. I think his anti-poverty work is amazing

I wish more Democrats spoke out on poverty with the ardor of thier stances on middle class tax cuts or, god help me, bankruptcy "reform." It puts Edwards in league with people like MLJ, FDR, and Jesse Jackson and I have great admiration for all of them.

He is an important voice in the party.

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. Really, can anyone describe his anti-poverty center in more detail?

I started out being more enthusiastic about Edwards than I ended up being, mostly because his most famous "Two Americas" speech started sounding canned to me, and maybe that was not fair. Most politicians use the same lines on the stump all of the time but usually I don't hear them enough to know it.

Now Edwards is not "on the stump". He is, I hope and believe, doing real work on the issue of poverty in America, which most Democratic leaders have been running away from for years. I would like to know more about his project.

[tishaLA]

15. He opened the center for Poverty, Work, and Opportunity

at UNC. It's a think tank and you can read about it here

[Crunchy Frog]

17. Thank you for the link.

There's definitely a need for more Democratic and liberal think tanks.

[1932]

11. Many media outlets are including disucssions of class/poverty in coverage

and I think Edwards deserves a lot of credit in bringing this issue to the attention of the media and the public.

The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal (if I'm not mistaken) have all done articles on this issue in the last few weeks.

The Repubicans hate to talk about class, but it's creeping into the popular consciousness.

Democrats can only benefit from this.

[iconoclastic cat]

12. Links?

Give me some reading material.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. That's what I was hoping somebody could provide me with.

I really don't know alot about what Edwards has been doing with this poverty center, but it sounds intriguing and I was hoping someone who knows alot about it could tell me more about what he's doing.

[AmericanDream]

19. See my post below :)

[Triana]

16. Poverty is the single biggest moral issue we have...

...and just about every other issue is connected to it in one way or another. Getting rid of poverty would solve a ton of issues. It's not gay marriage, or abortion, yada yada. It's poverty. There is NO excuse for it in a country like ours. None.

The problem is, the way corprats and our gov't operate, poverty is a necessity for them. And, they want to keep it that way, too.

[AmericanDream]

18. Here are links for Edwards videos/speeches on poverty etc....

The following are some speeches, interviews that should familiarize you with Edwards' vision and work:

First, since I liked it a lot, here is a commencement speech given by Edwards at W&M urging students to speak up against poverty and reminding them about the American ideals:

Transcript: http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=4534

Iowa Press interview

Edwards talks to the Iowa Press about the issue of poverty, the growing economic disparity, etc... and also the 2004 election:

http://www.iptv.org/iowapress/video/050401_3230.ram

Tax Reform - as a measure to live up to our ideals of leveling the playfield for everyone

Senator John Edwards Delivers Keynote Address at “Fairness” Conference, as he believes that the current tax system is tilted in favor of those at the top and reforming it is the first step towards leveling the playfield:

Speech transcript: http://www.newschool.edu/admin/pres/spring05/edwardsjspeech.html

To watch the speech and the Q&A part, click below ... there is a little part lost between the two parts where he answers some key questions but oh well... he takes some very harsh swipes at Bush & the republicans:

Video:
Part 1 - http://www.dialnsa.edu/special_events/fairness_a.ram
Part 2 - http://www.dialnsa.edu/special_events/fairness_b.ram

Spreading America's progressive vision in London
London School of Economics: Edwards spoke about the U.S.'s role in the world, global poverty, America, etc.

Transcript: http://www.oneamericacommittee.com/london.asp
Audio: http://www.oneamericacommittee.com/media/John_Edwards_LSE.mp3

Edwards Talks about poverty at Harvard

Speech and Q&A video:

http://iopforum.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/fr041305edwards.rm

Edwards has also officially teamed up with ACORN to raise minimum wages at state levels. He says that if the national gov't isn't going to do it, then the states must take the lead. Read more about it here: http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8540&tx_ttnews=18145&tx_ttnews=8359&cHash=987329bd1f
Edwards has already formed anti-poverty grouops at 10 top universities to speak up against issues of poverty - ranging from predatory lending, healthcare, minimum wage, or whatever the biggest factor working against the poor is in each individual community.

He has already held one panel discussion at UNC with David Shipler (The working poor: Invisible in America) and other prominent researches and civil servants concerned about poverty. The real university/research work at his poverty center is going to start in the 05-06 school year after summer, since the Edwardses just returned to NC a week ago.

"If we are all truly equal in the eyes of the Lord and the Law, if we are all given an equal chance to rise to our full potential, if we believe that there is dignity in hard work, then poverty has no place in America." - John Edwards

"Sometimes I hear wealthy and successful folks say 'I earned this money. The government shouldn't take it away.' And they're right they did earn their money, and government shouldn't take a nickel more than necessary.

But the truth is nobody earns his or her money alone. They earn it thanks to America. They earn it because America protects private property, enforces contracts, and yes, punishes torts. They earn it because America has securities law that protect the integrity of our markets. They earn it becasue Aemrica has public schools and universities that give everyone the tools to get ahead.

So nobody goes it alone, and everybody has a responsibility to help everyone else get ahead.

Our tax code is done the wrong way. It undermines our values....I believe that our tax code should honor one value above all the others: work. Work gives our lives meaning, and work gives our country stength." - John Edwards

[Crunchy Frog]

20. Thanks!

I'll look into those.:hi: