Fifty years ago today, in his first State of the Union speech, President Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America.”  Speaking less than two months after the assassination of President Kennedy, Johnson called on Congress to build upon Kennedy’s call to pioneer a “New Frontier” and deal directly with questions of “poverty and surplus” that America had never adequately answered.  He urged Washington to “carry forward the plans and programs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy -- not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right.” 

The most recent data from the Census Bureau puts America’s poverty rate at 16 percent, not much lower than the rate in 1964, and a statistic that means that the equivalent of the populations of California and Pennsylvania combined today live in poverty.  This group includes 21 percent of our country’s children; a national shame. 

With these numbers, we should stop and ask ourselves, what kind of future do we want?  Do we want to continue living in a country where over 70 percent of the wealth gains go to the top 5 percent, but, at the same time, over 58 percent of adults spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point?  Are we satisfied with a country that often ignores its most vulnerable, or do we want to build one that has, as its top priority, investing in the things that lift working families out of poverty?

When considering the issue, it’s important to point out that the war on poverty is still winnable, as some policies do work quite well to improve the lives of America’s poorest citizens.  For example, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) kept 4.7 million people out of poverty in 2011, including 2.1 million children.  Refundable tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit lifted 9.4 million people, including 5 million children, out of poverty in 2011.  According to research from Columbia University, anti-poverty tax and transfer programs in 2012 reduced overall poverty rate by 13 percentage points.  With known successes in an effort so important, it raises the question of why anyone would ever want cut off what does work, such as pushing through a bill that cuts tens of billions of dollars from SNAP and removes millions from the program, which is exactly what we saw in the House of Representatives last fall.  Not only is this kind of dismantling of the safety net morally questionable, it’s terrible policy.

Modern poverty is not someone else’s problem; it’s our collective challenge that shapes our social and economic future.  Poverty isn’t just an academic matter for stat-keeping; it’s a daily reality for 50 million people upon whom we depend on to support neighborhoods, school districts, and customer bases.  With strains and distractions of modern life, it can be easy to forget that real people are suffering amongst us and to discount the broader cost of that pain.  I’ve heard from my constituents heartbreaking stories of unexpected unemployment driving families to financial ruin.  Whether it’s a single mother struggling to provide basic necessities for her children, a senior citizen living only on Social Security and having to choose between heat and food or medicine and rent, or a recent college graduate buried beyond hope under a mountain of debt, such stories remind me that poverty affects regular folks with regular ambitions in any city or town.  This is not a faraway problem that only affects society’s anecdotes.  Keeping our neighbors’ heads above water is more than worth doing for our own community well-being.