Obama sees the poor as well as the middle class
For half a decade, the percent of Americans living below the poverty line has increased each year, from 12.3 percent in 2006 to 15.1 percent in 2010. Today the Census Bureau released its analysis of U.S. poverty in 2011, and the official poverty rate essentially held at 15 percent, meaning that 46.2 million people live below the poverty line.
A recent Frontline program on PBS explored the plight of poor children in Iowa. As I watched it, I couldn’t help but wish that John Boehner, Eric Kantor, and Mitch McConnell had been in the same room as me. I would have been most interested in their response to this depiction of poverty. I would have wanted to think that they would have a cathartic moment and changed their policies to favor legislation to address the needs of the poor. However, my reality bone told me that in all likelihood they would have blamed the victims, the poor children of eastern Iowa, rather than support any action to improve their lives.
Most progressives hope that Barack Obama has a secret, and so far undisclosed set of policies, that he wants to propose and see enacted in his second term. These may include stricter gun control laws, a new stimulus package, and a quicker withdrawal from Afghanistan. If the president “wins” the battle over the so-called “fiscal cliff,” it would be refreshing and encouraging to have him advance more of a comprehensive policy toward meeting the needs of the poor. There is little doubt that he would support such a policy. The question is whether he thinks that it would be a battle that he could win. The key to this decision lies primarily in restoring a veto-proof majority in the Senate as well as a new majority in the House in the 2014 mid-term elections.
