Dear Sharra, The way to have a vibrant society and an abundant economy, is to help people thrive. To uncap their dreams. To unleash their spirits. Yet for millions of Americans, dreams are dashed and spirits are broken every day. Nothing is more emotionally, psychologically or societally debilitating than poverty. Yet over 38 million Americans live in poverty. And over 93 million live in near-poverty. Let's take a moment to breathe that in: in the richest country in the world, almost 30 percent of our people live in near-poverty. Yet our political and media establishment have the audacity to say that our economy is "good!" Really?? We might want to consider what the word "good" should actually mean. In the 1960's, President Lyndon Johnson waged a War on Poverty. Since that time, however, our government has not only moved away from that kind of thinking; it has moved away from the kinds of policies that work toward the eradication of poverty. Johnson established the Office of Economic Opportunity to administer the local application of federal funds targeted against poverty. Johnson believed in expanding the federal government's role in education and health care as poverty-reduction strategies, continuing the basic philosophy of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Yet starting in the 1980's, such governmental largess was demonized. According to trickle-down economic theory that became the order of the day, government was to be seen as the problem—not the answer. The Office of Economic Opportunity was abolished in 1981, replaced by a system of insidious "block grants" to states. That way, forces within individual states could obstruct the application of anti-poverty funds for the purposes to which they were intended. And thus we are where we are today. As president, I will again make the eradication of poverty a national goal. It's time to reestablish the now-defunct OEC, change the current system of block grants, and send anti-poverty funds back to Community Action Agencies to eradicate poverty. Helping people is not "wrong." Serving people is not "codependency." And strengthening people is not "enabling" them. It's time to reclaim the core principle of the United States: that this country should belong to its people. The massive transfer of wealth into the hands of only one percent of our population must stop now. And when I'm president, it will. Please donate generously so we can shout this from the mountaintops. We can end the madness and begin again. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express,
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Marianne    | 
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