[John Edwards] calls for actions to eliminate poverty

from The Buffalo News

By JONATHAN EPSTEIN
News Staff Reporter

Former Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards called Monday for eliminating poverty within 30 years by enhancing savings, raising the minimum wage, giving people more access to education, housing and jobs and cracking down on abuses.

Speaking before a crowd of more than 500 at the University at Buffalo's Center for the Arts, Edwards said the nation can't ignore a problem that causes 37 million people to "wake up every day worrying about feeding and clothing their children."

"I see this as a great moral cause," said the former senator from North Carolina. "For the wealthiest country in the world, this is not acceptable."

He said the American people have the will to take action but need national leadership from the government. He said government leaders must come up with "solutions that make sense" and that "are based on values Americans believe in."

"If we want to have credibility in the world, we need to also be a model at home," he said. "There are huge opportunities to show the world what America is all about."

Edwards came to UB as the keynote speaker at the Western New York Poverty Symposium. His speech followed a panel discussion by seven community advocates, educators and government representatives.

The symposium and Edwards' remarks come four months after a Buffalo News series on "The High Cost of Being Poor," which explored ways in which low-income people pay extra for basic financial services because they don't have cash or credit.

Edwards, who now heads the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina, called for raising the federal minimum wage, now at $5.15 an hour, which he called a "national disgrace." In addition, he said the government needs to make it easier for 50 million service workers to unionize, saying the difference in pay between union and non-union businesses is the gap between the middle and lower classes.

He also urged expansion of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families, including making it more available to single workers. And he recommended the use of special savings accounts, with matching funds and financial education, to build wealth.

At the same time, though, he called for "seriously cracking down on payday and predatory lenders who strip assets from people" and "prey on the most vulnerable Americans."

He recommended creation of "steppingstone" jobs in parks and communities where millions of unemployed workers can learn skills and enter the work force. And he criticized the federal government for taking billions of dollars out of financial aid programs for college, saying that's "the last thing America should be doing."

Finally, he said the nation's public housing policy "is completely broken," denouncing it for clustering low-income people together and continuing an unhealthy cycle. He said the government needs to give families money to move to new neighborhoods if they want.

"This is not something we can wait on others to do," Edwards said. "We all have to be involved. I think it's a cause well worth investing in."