Eradicating Poverty ☀
Resources for public education. In order to make this work with current political realities, this will need to be coupled with reevaluations of teacher tenure in cases where it appears that teacher tenure is in conflict with student success. We need to ensure that we have the best public education possible for al students—and be willing to fund it.
Ensure adequate resources for front-line mental health. In the current political environment this can be spun as both a security issue and a cost-saving effort. At some point, there are going to be individuals with severe and crippling mental illness that will need serious care. It’s a lot cheaper to do it before they’re involve in the criminal justice system. If we can get these resources in place, we can help those with relatively minor problems and get serious help for those who need serious help.
Make sure we keep funding food-stamps at adequate levels. This isn’t terribly controversial. Food stamps are good for the economy and even the most die-hard conservatives get qualms about hunger.
Work on mechanisms to distribute the Earned Income Tax Credit on a biweekly basis rather than as a massive lump sum in April. This will be much better for the economy and will give those in poverty a more consistent income.
Crack down on businesses seeking to extract profits from those at or below the poverty line. This includes payday lenders and bank overdraft fees. A lot of the money we distribute to the financially vulnerable immediately gets sucked up by the megabanks looking for profits. It’s not uncommon for people on very low incomes with some financial problems to pay $300-$400 a month in overdraft fees. This is already happening to some extend as overdrafts on point of sale purchases are now opt-in rather than opt-out. It can continue with regulation through the CFPB. We already have the legal groundwork to make it happen. We’ll still need a way to nerf Republican “oversight” efforts.
Fund small-business legal clinics. Proper regulatory over-sight is critical if we’re going to prevent the sharks from making things worse. At the same time, it can be a burden on anybody trying to start a business. Free or discounted legal assistance for those attempting to navigate the system can eliminate undesired effects on struggling entrepreneurs.
Job-creation. I don’t really care how. We need to find some way to get unemployment down to a good 6% or so to ensure that those seriously looking for work can find it. To make this a reality, I would be willing to sacrifice the last tier of extended unemployment to subsidize job-creation programs.
Decriminalize pot. I’m serious. Criminal convictions seriously screw people’s job prospects up for years. If we have tons of criminal convictions for vaguely stupid things, we can get rid of the stupid things.
Keep healthcare reform. Too often an unexpected medical emergency can kill the prospects for somebody already struggling. Healthcare reform should ensure those at the bottom have coverage through Medicaid. This will prevent medical costs from throwing those trying to climb out of poverty back to square one.
Fund restorative justice for juvenile offenders. If we can intervene early to prevent the most at-risk youth before its to late, we can help break a cycle of poverty.
Fully fund public transit. People can’t work if they can’t get to work.
Fund early childhood education to work on closing the opportunity gap. To make this politically possible, think of the children!
Revise our foreclosure laws to allow the current occupant (as distinct from the current owner) a right of first refusal to purchase (or repurchase) a property sold at sheriff sale using a fixed-rate, government-backed, market-rate loan (at the sale price) in cases where borrowers can show an ability to make monthly payments. This can help stabilize housing prices, prevent the further decay of neighborhoods, and loosen pressure on other subsidized housing programs.
Provide something like an X-prize in poverty eradication just to make the project cool.
