The Candidates on Poverty
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John McCain |
McCain has promised to make the eradication of poverty a top administration priority, asserting that "a strong and vibrant America, one in which people can move up into the middle class, put their kids through college, work hard and one day retire in dignity, is critical to not only our economic future but to the very security of our nation." In an April 2008 statement on poverty, McCain said that "as President, I will set aside the needs of the special interests to advance the interests of the American people, especially those 12 million children who deserve every opportunity to achieve the American Dream." McCain voted for a 1996 welfare reform bill that required more work for recipients and placed limits on the amount of time they could receive benefits. Although McCain voted for a bill to increase the federal minimum wage in February 2007, he has historically voted against minimum wage increases, arguing that they can hurt small businesses. |
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Barack Obama |
In the Illinois Senate, Obama helped author the state earned income tax credit, which provided tax cuts for low-income families. In September 2007, Obama unveiled a plan to cut taxes for the middle class and senior citizens by eliminating corporate loopholes and tax breaks. He said that if elected president, he would aim to create 20 "Promise Neighborhoods," choosing places that have high levels of poverty and crime and low levels of academic achievement. In those neighborhoods, "a full network of services" will be provided "from birth to college." In The Audacity of Hope, Obama describes what he calls America's "empathy deficit," writing that a "stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current politics in favor of those people who are struggling in this society." Obama is a U.S. Senate co-sponsor of the Global Poverty Act, which calls on the president to develop a comprehensive agenda to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. He has supported bills increasing the minimum wage. |
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