“Maybe part of the problem is the poor don’t have lobbyists. There aren’t any Super Pacs being formed to raise millions of dollars to demand accountability on the issue. Even right-wing Christian leaders such as Ralph Reed and his Faith and Freedom Coalition are quick to condemn Obama’s plan to tax the rich but say nothing about the poorest states in the country, or even demand a poverty plan from the GOP candidates.
If I were a poor person in a red state, my primary issue would be which candidate, including Obama, speaks to my needs. If a candidate spends more time defending tax cuts for the wealthy and saying nothing about the poor, including the growing number of children on the poverty rolls, that candidate would be hard pressed to get my vote.
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Poverty an invisible issue in GOP race - CNN.com
Over the past couple of years as I’ve led an organization that works with individuals, seniors, and families in poverty, I’ve become skeptical of any political and/or economic agenda that ignores the subject of poverty.
The whole, “trickle down effect," doesn’t cut it for me.
Shame on us organization leaders for not doing what it takes to advocate on behalf those we serve. Too often we’re jaded and beaten down by squashed efforts of the past. It may be time to get back up and do what we know is right. How, not quite sure yet.
