logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Obama’s Record on Fighting Poverty

Rick Cohen
December 2, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

December 1, 2010; Source: Spotlight on Poverty | A good chunk of the nonprofit sector says it is about fighting poverty. This blog posting by Barbara Blum, former Commissioner of the NY State Department of Social Services, posted on the Spotlight on Poverty website, provides an interesting perspective on what the Obama Administration has been doing, in her estimation, to fight poverty.

Blum argues that the Obama Administration’s “quiet campaign” against poverty is built on “three key planks: building human capital, enforcing wage and hour standards, and providing income-enhancing benefits.”

In the human capital plank, Blum places the “Race to the Top” K-12 education reform effort, the Administration’s support for community colleges, revisions in the system for federal financial aid for students, and implementation of the post-9/11 GI Bill. On the income enhancement agenda, she credits the Administration with trying to remove barriers preventing families from getting food stamps (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), child nutrition subsidies, and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) funds. She argues, “the good news is that we can accomplish a lot without new legislation, building on the quiet campaign for change.”

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Blum concludes, “The Obama administration is focused intently on easing poverty, more so than perhaps any administration since the mid-1960s.”

We have three questions for NPQ readers from their perches from the front lines of the fight against poverty: (1) How effective has the Obama Administration’s quiet campaign against poverty been? (2) Given the less-than-quiet election of conservative Congressmen pledged to cut back the size and involvement of government, does the quiet campaign to fight poverty need to become a bit louder? (3) With unemployment benefits expiring and perhaps unlikely to be extended by the new conservative Congress, what is your perspective on the prospects for future anti-poverty progress or regression?—Rick Cohen

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: InequalityNonprofit NewsPolicies and LawsWhite House / Executive Branch

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Linking Our Fights to Win: On Combatting Elite Capture
Kitana Ananda and Olúfemi O. Táíwò
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
Black Women’s Pay Inequity Starts in the School System
Toni A. Wilson
Why Tech Nonprofits Are Building Digital Tools for Racial Equity and Justice
Sakshi Udavant
California’s Plan for Lineage-Based Reparations for Slavery: Will It Be Enough?
Kitana Ananda

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Linking Our Fights to Win: On Combatting Elite Capture
Kitana Ananda and Olúfemi O. Táíwò
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.