Focus on Poverty
While the news from Washington gets more depressing every day, all is not bleak on the national political landscape.... our next President, John Edwards, is shining a spotlight on a major problem in our country, too often ignored by politicians and the press.
At their campaign website the Edwards team explain how they will:
take the campaign on the road for three days, through eight states and 12 towns and cities, in order to bring attention to the 37 million Americans living in poverty.
John Edwards:
"Everyday, one in eight Americans wakes up in poverty. That's not okay. Today, we have Two Americas in our country - one America that has everything it needs and another that is struggling to get by. Our next president needs not only to understand the struggles facing the 37 million Americans living in poverty, but also have a plan to lift them up out of poverty. That is what this tour and my campaign are about - giving them a voice so that we can build One America, where every person has the opportunity to work hard and get ahead."
The tour kicks off Monday, July 16th. The "Road to One America" tour will begin in New Orleans, Louisiana and travel more than 1,800 miles before ending on Wednesday, July 18th, in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, where Senator Robert F. Kennedy concluded his 1968 200-mile tour of impoverished regions in Southeastern Kentucky. The tour also includes a stop in Marks, Mississippi, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched his 1968 Poor People's March to Washington, D.C.
Along the way, John will meet with residents devastated and displaced by Hurricane Katrina and with people who have experienced persistent poverty in the Deep South, the Mississippi Delta and rural Appalachia. He will also visit communities in the Rust Belt region that have suffered from the loss of American manufacturing jobs and cities that are struggling to cope with both urban poverty and the rising problem of poverty. With this tour, we will focus attention not just on problems, but also on solutions and all of the good work that is being done across the nation to help lift people out of poverty.
The new faces of poverty in America come from a wide variety of racial, ethnic and regional backgrounds - from urban, suburban and rural areas. They range in age from the very young to the very old. Some are suffering from disabilities, which prevent them from finding work, and many are hardworking men and women with full-time jobs who are still struggling to make ends meet. All too often they don't have access to the affordable health care, housing and education they need. And their numbers are growing. We'll meet with these Americans, tell their stories to the rest of the nation, and show the diversity of the problem of poverty in America.
We all have a stake in doing something about our fellow Americans living in poverty and believe that working together we can help end poverty.
John Edwards:
"Everyday, one in eight Americans wakes up in poverty. That's not okay. Today, we have Two Americas in our country - one America that has everything it needs and another that is struggling to get by. Our next president needs not only to understand the struggles facing the 37 million Americans living in poverty, but also have a plan to lift them up out of poverty. That is what this tour and my campaign are about - giving them a voice so that we can build One America, where every person has the opportunity to work hard and get ahead."
The tour kicks off Monday, July 16th. The "Road to One America" tour will begin in New Orleans, Louisiana and travel more than 1,800 miles before ending on Wednesday, July 18th, in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, where Senator Robert F. Kennedy concluded his 1968 200-mile tour of impoverished regions in Southeastern Kentucky. The tour also includes a stop in Marks, Mississippi, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched his 1968 Poor People's March to Washington, D.C.
Along the way, John will meet with residents devastated and displaced by Hurricane Katrina and with people who have experienced persistent poverty in the Deep South, the Mississippi Delta and rural Appalachia. He will also visit communities in the Rust Belt region that have suffered from the loss of American manufacturing jobs and cities that are struggling to cope with both urban poverty and the rising problem of poverty. With this tour, we will focus attention not just on problems, but also on solutions and all of the good work that is being done across the nation to help lift people out of poverty.
The new faces of poverty in America come from a wide variety of racial, ethnic and regional backgrounds - from urban, suburban and rural areas. They range in age from the very young to the very old. Some are suffering from disabilities, which prevent them from finding work, and many are hardworking men and women with full-time jobs who are still struggling to make ends meet. All too often they don't have access to the affordable health care, housing and education they need. And their numbers are growing. We'll meet with these Americans, tell their stories to the rest of the nation, and show the diversity of the problem of poverty in America.
We all have a stake in doing something about our fellow Americans living in poverty and believe that working together we can help end poverty.
Good Luck, John Edwards!!
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