Behind the Poverty Showdown

By David Nather | April 7, 2008 4:49 PM | | Comments (0)

Three days ago, the new War on Poverty began. And if you listen closely today, you can tell that it’s probably already over.

It started when Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a speech in Memphis in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., promised to appoint a cabinet-level “poverty czar” to work full-time to address the plight of poor people:

"I believe we should appoint a cabinet level position that will be solely and fully devoted to ending poverty as we know it in America. A position that will focus the attention of our nation on the issue and never let it go. A person who I could see being asked by the president every single day what have you done to end poverty in America? No more excuses. No more whining, but instead, a concerted effort."

It was a fitting venue for Clinton to float the idea, since the King family has long promoted it. Not to be outdone, John McCain put out his statement on poverty a few hours later, which read, in part:

"Martin Luther King III has done his father's legacy proud this week by courageously insisting that our nation's next leader do something about the poverty that ensnares more than 36 million of our citizens. I will answer his call, and tell him and the American people today that I will make the eradication of poverty a top priority of the McCain Administration."

No word that day from Barack Obama. Then again, he gave an entire speech on poverty in July, long before either Clinton or McCain entered the game. (He’s promised to create a White House Office of Urban Policy to coordinate all federal urban programs.)

It’s been decades since any president, or Congress, took such an interest in the subject. John Cranford, economics columnist for CQ Weekly, took a look at the candidates’ statements on poverty back in February and found that they mostly merged the topic with the economic insecurities of the middle class.

But even if they’re serious now, is Congress ready? After all, a poverty czar — like any other cabinet chieftain — would have to get help from Capitol Hill at some point. And it’s not like the leadership of either party is out there calling attention to the “Other America” of the 21st century. The last flurry of interest came right after Katrina. And if you can’t stay interested after a natural disaster on that scale, when can you?

One other thing: Cranford noted that Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a Web site run by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other philanthropic organizations, asked the presidential candidates how they would address poverty. Want to guess two of the candidates who didn’t respond?

Clinton and McCain.

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