It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
 | Sam Browback Just Plain Wrong On Religion And Poverty |
There’s something else that’s bothering me about presidential candidate Sam Browback’s social ideas, as reported yesterday by the Des Moines Register. The Register reported that, at a campaign rally, Brownback “said encouraging poor, unwed parents to marry with welfare incentives and publicly celebrating religious faiths would help fight poverty and crime.”
Sam Brownback wants to use the power of the presidency to create public celebrations of religious faith. His idea is that if the government sponsors public celebrations of religion, then poverty will fall.
The facts contradict that idea. George W. Bush has used his power as President to promote public celebrations of religious faith more than any other President in living memory, and perhaps more than any other President in the history of the United States. Yet, according to the Census Bureau, the number of people living below the poverty level has increased almost every single year that George W. Bush has been office.
In 2000, the last year of Bill Clinton’s presidency, there were 31.6 million Americans living below the poverty line. In 2001, that number increased to 32.9 million. In 2002, it went up to 34.6 million. In 2003, the number was at 35.9 million. In 2004, the number was 37 million. In 2005, the number was down slightly, but only from 37 million to 36.9 million Americans living in poverty.
During that time, it wasn’t just the raw number of Americans living in poverty that increased. The poverty rate increased too. During the presidency of Bill Clinton, on the other hand, both the number of Americans living in poverty and the poverty rate went down.
The facts show that using the President’s power to create public celebrations of religion does not reduce poverty. Sam Brownback should have checked the facts before making his claim, but he didn’t. He was hoping that his audience would just accept it on faith.
(Source: Des Moines Register, August 7, 2007; Census Bureau; Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic, Origin: 1959 to 2005)
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When will we be issued the requisite brown shirts and where do i sign up for the up-coming goose stepping lessons?
Comment by Tom — 8/8/2007 @ 10:55 am