#TalkPoverty: Thirteen Questions for the First Presidential
Debate 

By Greg Kaufmann 

The Nation
October 2, 2012 

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170291/talkpoverty-thirteen-questions-first-presidential-debate

A few months ago, anticipating that the presidential
campaigns would fail to focus in any substantive way on the
record levels of poverty now plaguing the country, The Nation
kicked off a campaign to push the candidates to think and
talk about this issue.

"#TalkPoverty: Questions for Obama and Romney" profiles
experts who have devoted their lives to fighting poverty, and
gives them the opportunity to ask the presidential candidates
the questions that they want answers to. Next, The Nation
will hound the campaigns for responses.

To date, Peter Edelman, Mariana Chilton, Jessica Bartholow,
Tim Casey and Lisalyn Jacobs have offered twenty-one
questions, which - if the candidates were to respond directly
to them - would give voters a much deeper understanding of
poverty in this country and the next president’s vision for
taking it on.

We will still have at least one more round of questions from
families who know poverty firsthand. But, today, I’ve
selected thirteen questions from our five experts that
deserve immediate attention - starting with tomorrow’s debate.

We encourage you to tweet this article to all of the
presidential debate moderators: @NewsHour, @CrowleyCNN, and
@[log in to unmask] During and after the debate, use #TalkPoverty
to push your own questions about poverty and to weigh in on
whether the candidates are taking this issue seriously
enough.

We are thrilled that so many individuals and organizations
have taken up the #TalkPoverty campaign - organizations like
the Half In Ten coalition and the Coalition on Human Needs,
among many others. Now it’s time to step up our game - keep
pushing for a substantive conversation and action - through
tomorrow’s debate and beyond the Election Day.

* * *

1. More than 20 million people in America have with incomes
below half the poverty line - less than about $9,000 for a
family of three. That’s up from 12.6 million in 2000. What
will you do to address this growing problem?

2. One-fifth of US children are poor. Do you agree that
national policy should assure an above-poverty income to all
children whose parents are willing to work?

3. One in five children in the United States struggle with
hunger. As president, what would you do about our growing
hunger crisis in America - especially for young children?

4. Poverty rates are 30 percent higher for women than men.
What would you do to reduce the gender poverty gap?

6. Rural poverty persists as a blight for people across the
country, from Appalachia to the Mississippi Delta and the
Alabama Black Belt to the colonias of south Texas, and Indian
reservations in many places. What will you do to help reduce
the poverty in these places?

7. Investments in early childhood are key to children’s
prospects for productive lives. Yet federal assistance for
childcare currently reaches only about one in seven of those
who are eligible. What will you do to increase the
availability of quality childcare to more low-income
children?

8. Government statistics show that 106 million people with
incomes below twice the poverty line - below about $46,000
for a family of four. This reflects the large number of low-
wage jobs in the nation. What will you do to increase the
income of these people who are struggling to make ends meet
every month?

9. Food stamps (SNAP) enrolls 90 percent of eligible children
but cash welfare (TANF) only 40 percent. What would you do to
increase eligible children’s enrollment rate in TANF?

10. Despite their above-average employment rates compared to
single mothers in other high-income countries, single mothers
in the United States have higher poverty rates. What would
you do to reduce poverty for single mothers and their
children?

11. Urban concentrated poverty has climbed again close to the
high point it reached in 1990. What will you do to help
improve the quality of life of people who are currently
isolated in America’s inner cities?

12. What will you do to ensure that those receiving TANF
benefits "who are able to work" receive adequate training so
that they are able to transition effectively and permanently
into the workforce?

13. As you consider changes to the tax code, what types of
tax credits do you envision creating, retaining or
eliminating that focus on low-income families (e.g., earned
income tax credit, child tax credit, low-income housing tax
credit, others)?

Poverty isn’t the only subject candidates are likely to gloss
over in the debates. Check out Mark Hertsgaard’s ten pressing
questions on energy and the environment.

[Greg Kaufmann is a Nation contributor covering poverty in
America.  He has been a guest on NPR, including Here & Now,
Your Call, Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, and various
local radio programs including the Matthew Filipowicz Show.
His work has also appeared on Common Dreams, Alternet,
Tikkun.org, NPR.org, CBSNews.com, and MichaelMoore.com.  He
previously worked as a staffer for the Kerry campaign, a
copywriter and speechwriter for various Democrats in national
and local politics, and as a screenwriter.  He serves as an
advisor for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.]

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