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  • From: Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Thinking about national well-being
  • Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 13:10:07 -0700

Everyone thinks about their own well-being and quite a few attempt to do something about it. But few think about how their individual well-being and that of their children is affected by that huge drag on the economy that is over 35 million poor.
There is a small percentage of the poor that is crippled, blind, ill, too dumb to educate, but for most of them it is a politically-contrived condition.by the Republicrats. No intelligent life in the U.S. political universe.


Boston.com THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

The Boston Globe <http://www.boston.com/news/globe/>
MISSED MESSAGES '04 | GLOBE EDITORIAL


35.9 million people

September 28, 2004

/A series on forgotten campaign issues/
POVERTY eats away at America's Missedmessages '04promise. But the issue gets too little attention on the presidential campaign trail. In 2003, 12.5 percent of the country, or 35.9 million people, lived in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. It's a problem in familiar cities and in neglected places that George Bush and John Kerry are far less likely to visit. Consider:

* Lubec, Maine: Declines in the fishing industry have affected this town: 28.8 percent of the 1,650 residents live below the poverty line, according to 2000 Census figures. Lubec's Washington County is a picture of rural poverty where a sparse population spreads over 2,500 square miles, making it tougher to provide essentials such as medical care for children and the elderly. Heroin and prescription drug addictions are chronic problems. Fish farming is on the rise, but the city needs more economic development.

* Miami: It's a political and cultural hot spot, but the Census Bureau says that in 2003, 28 percent of Miami's people lived below the poverty line, rising to 50 percent for families with a female head of household. This summer, one mother told The Miami Herald that she lived from paycheck to paycheck despite working 64 hours a week at two nursing home jobs for $8 and $9 an hour. College could serve as a ladder to the middle class for working and unemployed parents. But shortsighted policies often push people into dead-end jobs instead of careers.

* Missoula, Mont.: Housing prices here -- $445,000 for a five-bedroom house -- seem like a bargain by Boston-area standards. And Montana has a low unemployment rate -- 3.9 percent in August. But Montana suffers from low and stagnant wages. Last month, average hourly wages were $13.22. That's not enough, according to a study by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, which says a single adult with two children needs to earn $17 an hour to pay bills and cope with emergencies. Two working adults with two children would need $23.74 an hour.

* Cleveland: The city has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Indians, a Major League Baseball team. But when John Edwards and Dick Cheney go there for the Oct. 5 vice presidential debate, they should talk about Cleveland's 2003 poverty rate of 31.3 percent and child poverty rate of 46.9 percent -- both the highest for large US cities. The loss of jobs is a huge problem for Ohio. And there is a lack of affordable housing in the suburbs that could put people closer to the jobs that have fled downtown.

The candidates must talk about world affairs, but they should also emphasize the network of factors that cause poverty. And they should say that improving the lot of all Americans is also part of homeland security.
*TOMORROW: Immigration reform.*
© Copyright <http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright> 2004 The New York Times Company








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