People living in poverty (under the federal poverty guidelines) rose last year to 43.6 million. That is about 14.3% of the American population (about 1 in 7) that live in poverty everyday, yet few politicians, Republican or Democrat, address this fact. The answer is because, traditionally, people living below the poverty line don't vote. People living in poverty are either too busy trying to work
their way out of poverty to pay much attention to the political scene, or else they think that their vote doesn't matter because they are not rich and well connected. The truth is politicians don't care what you have to say if you don't vote. Can you imagine the backpedaling, and plan changing that these politicians would have to do if a new coalition of 43.6 million voters, from all over the country, came together and declared that, "If our voices, as citizens of the most powerful country in the world, are not heard we will kick you out of power and elect people who will work to see all Americans prosper." The first thing we must do, however, is dispel the many myths about people who live in poverty in the United States. today does not mean that you are: dirty, lazy, stupid, unmotivated, or an alcoholic/drug addict. Living in poverty doesn't mean that you just want everything handed to you. Living in Poverty is NOT a choice. The New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Poverty) defines poverty as: "a condition in which a person or community is deprived of, or lacks the essentials for a minimum standard of well-being and life. Since poverty is understood in many senses, these essentials may be material resources such as food, safe drinking water, and shelter, or they may be social resources such as access to information, education, health care, social status, political power, or the opportunity to develop meaningful connections with other people in society." To check the federal poverty guidelines and see if you and your family live in poverty, go to:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml
