The New Deal ushered in a period, in the middle of the 20th century, of unprecedented broadly-shared prosperity and a thriving middle class. Decades later, President Johnson's War on Poverty further closed the chasm between the haves and have-nots.
Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps and more--together they struck a powerful blow for social justice and allowed us to keep faith with the basic bargain that everyone deserves common dignity and a fair start in America.
These programs worked, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There is hard data to show that SNAP put food on the table, that the Earned Income Tax credit increased work participation. In the early 1960s, by one measure that more accurately captures
after-tax in-kind poverty-fighting programs, roughly one in three Americans were poor. By 1980, the number was down to 13 percent. The bottom line is: if we take the long view, poverty reduction is a great American success story.
Source: Remarks at the Half in Ten Anti-Poverty Report Release
, Oct 29, 2013
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