I’m so sick of hearing Republicans and Democrats in Congress argue about taxes and this “fiscal cliff” garbage. I’m fed up to the gills with a divided government, where absolutely nothing gets done for the people.
No one talks at all about the subject of poverty in this country. It is much worse than many of us ever thought. It supercedes all this taxes and the fiscal cliff.
According to current census statistics, nearly 50 million Americans now live in poverty. It is shameful and senseless. We just spent $12 billion on a presidential campaign while 50 million of our fellow citizens fight a never-ending, day-to-day battle with hunger and poverty. Many are innocent children. Again, it is shameful and senseless. Where is the justice in this? What kind of nation and people are we anyway?
I know something about the squalor of poverty. I was born into poverty. I grew up in poverty. And I know that poverty is a societal cancer that grows and consumes. If left to spread, it will eventually cripple, then consume a society. So it is in our vital national interest to kill this beast.
And we can. All that is needed is our will to do so. We have always been the “can do” people. A determined people. We must realize and understand that poverty is a chain that binds. It stunts human potential and national growth.
I cannot accept that the greatest, most wealthy empire in the world has ever known permits 50 million of its own to live in poverty. There is no excuse I can accept and certainly no justification for it.
It would be far less costly in the long run to end American poverty than to leave it unchecked to spread and grow to eventually consume our society. Make no mistake, it will. In my opinion poverty may well be our worst enemy. I was raised to believe that family comes first. We must end poverty for our American family.
Roger D. Bowman
Danville
