Obama vows to fight poverty

[TeamJordan23]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-vows-to-fight-poverty-2007-07-18.html

Obama vows to fight poverty
By Jeremy Jacobs
July 18, 2007

Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Tuesday criticized the government for turning a blind eye toward the poor, vowing that he would, as president, implement policies to help eradicate poverty.

In a speech at the Town Hall of Educations Arts and Recreation Center in Washington, D.C., the senator condemned policies of the Bush administration and the nature of political discourse in the nation’s capital as counterproductive to the American people’s interests.

“With the stroke of a pen, billions are spent on programs and policies, on tax breaks for those who didn’t need them and a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged,” Obama said. “Debates rage and accusations fly and at the end of each day, the petty sniping is what lights up the evening news.”

Obama pointed to Anacostia, an impoverished area of Washington, D.C., as an example of the government failing to represent the interests of the lower classes because they cannot afford expensive lobbyists.

“The streets here are close to our Capitol, but far from the people it represents,” Obama said. “These Americans cannot hire lobbyists to roam the halls of Congress on their behalf, and they cannot write thousand-dollar campaign checks to make their voices heard. They suffer most from a politics that has been tipped in favor of those with the most money, and influence, and power.”

[Bitwit1234]

1. Isn't that what John Edwards has been fighting and talking about

for the last year...guess it must be a successful point.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

2. I agree, it is great to see Obama finally talking about it...

The timing is interesting. In the midst of Edwards' poverty tour Obama finally comes out and speaks out against poverty. That said, this seems to represent a tactical shift from the Obama camp. Talking about poverty does not help him on Wall Street but Obama must feel he has solidified his support among corporate America to a point that he will suffer no great loss in fund-raising by talking about poverty. Is Obama sincere about poverty, though? Yes. He actually has a page on his website about fighting poverty, which is more than can be said about the rest except Edwards (and I believe Kucinich)... What changed is that he is now seemingly willing to talk about it. We'll see what happens. Perhaps this was just a one-off intended to take some steam out of Edwards' poverty tour. The real test? If Obama is willing to talk about it during debates.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/fightingpoverty/