Spotlight on Poverty

A new website, "Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity," was launched on October 30th, 2007 and it is well worth a visit for all those who care about improving the economic conditions of those at the lower end of our income distribution. Notably, the website is a genuine bipartisan (I would say "nonpartisan," but many of those involved are decidedly partisan.) effort to raise the priority of poverty and its solutions among Presidential candidates during this election cycle

One of the few substantive things a Presidential might be able to unilaterally affect vis-a-vis domestic poverty policy is the decision to set--or not set--a national goal for poverty reduction. The Spotlight on Poverty website has already received responses from several candidates, from both major political parties, on this issue, and they are worth reading or watching--some responses are in video format and some are written. I previously worked for the Center for American Progress's Task Force on Poverty, which did call for an initial, bold, though certainly attainable goal of cutting poverty in half within ten years. These sorts of goals do have their drawbacks, but the experience of the United Kingdom, well-summarized by my former colleague Elisa Minoff in "The UK Commitment: Ending Child Poverty by 2020," has seemed to prompt a renewed interest in such goals with regard to poverty reduction in the US.

[Additionally, in the interest of full disclosure, I have previously worked with Mark Greenberg, a member of the Spotlight's Advisory Council, and for Freedman Consulting, which is part of the Spotlight's Steering Committee for this effort. While Freedman Consulting's website still lists me as a Research Assistant, in fact I have no contractual or employment relationship with Freedman consulting.]