An essay in the NYT this morning inveighs against poverty and insists all of us have a duty to combat poverty in any way we can. There are many anti-poverty programs on the books at the Federal and State level. Many of them, especially TANF are riddled with corruption once the money, in bloc grants, is distributed to the states.
What the author of the essay points out is that if the anti-poverty programs were fully funded and fairly administered, it would go a long way toward eliminating poverty in the US. Here's the rub; we don't collect all the taxes necessary to fund the programs and indeed seem hell bent on cutting taxes further for the wealthiest Americans.
I defer to the patron saint of this blog, the late, great, Jerry Shulman. He was always proud to pay taxes every year and said it was part of the duty for all of us. Joe Biden would have us believe we can reach the promised land by only increasing taxes on those who make over $400,000 per year. If we can eradicate poverty by raising taxes on everyone who makes over $100,000/year, then by all means, let us do so, while at the same time making the whole system more progressive and fair.
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