A cabinet-level poverty czar?

As many of you may know, today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time, he was about to begin a campaign on economic fairness to get rid of poverty in this country.

I was sitting at my desk working and watching an interview with two of his four children - Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Bernice King. His son discussed the topic:

"Forty years ago, my father was focused on the Poor People's Campaign to guarantee an annual income for all citizens," Martin Luther King III told TODAY's Ann Curry. "Tragically, today, 40 years later, where 36 million people are living in poverty - 12 million children - we're not doing near enough."

On Wednesday, King III had an op-ed piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the issue of a cabinet-level poverty czar. He called on all three of the presidential candidates to create such a position within their first 100 days in office.

He wrote:

It has been 40 years since the last sermon my father gave at the National Cathedral in Washington, when he called upon our nation's leaders to eradicate poverty once and for all, explaining that, "There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will."

Today, as our nation continues to be plagued by a poverty that is inexcusable when coupled with record riches amassed by the wealthy, the challenge that consumed my father toward the end of his life has remained comfortably entrenched within the realm of rhetoric and not action.

I therefore call upon all our presidential candidates to take a vow that, within the first 100 days in office as commander in chief, he or she will appoint a cabinet-level officer whose responsibility will be to make a measurable impact on eradicating poverty and allow more Americans to move up into our middle class.

A poverty cabinet member is necessary today more than ever. Our next president will be taking over a government that faces virtually the exact same poverty rate my father found so appalling back in 1968. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the current poverty rate is just over 12 percent, as it was in 1968, while the number of people living in poverty has grown from 25 million to more than 36 million, including 12 million children. Even worse, a family of four with two children and an annual income of $21,027 is not even considered poor by our government's reporting standards. Many people have become immune to these statistics, but we cannot wait for another Katrina to truly grasp that America is awash in poverty.

The work of the cabinet officer must transcend the ceremonial. His or her principal focus must be highlighting successful programs working at the local level, developing new, more accurate measurements for poverty, and setting benchmarks for success by which the administration will be judged.

 

You can read the entire piece here.

I think this is a great idea. The biggest reason why I originally supported John Edwards for president was his ideas and stances regarding poverty. I think poverty is a huge issue in our country that has been overlooked for too long.