What are some realistic ways to fight poverty in America?

Question

Please refrain from attacking 'evil' corporations or politicians.

Answer 1

I think get jobs would probably be the best!

Why does the left always want to tax the rich. If you get a nice house I think you should give half of it to charity. By the way it's the only fair thing to do. Practice what you preach. I am sure once you make money you will forget about taxing the rich......

Answer 2

The most realistic way of ending poverty -- not just country wide, but world wide -- is both doable & solidly-laid plans by our Creator:

Poverty — What Can Be Done About It? :
... The POOR Get Poorer
...... Finding the Permanent Solution
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2003/8/1/article_01.htm

"Make Sure of All things; Hold Fast to what is Fine!"
1 Thessalonians 5:21

Answer 3

1) Raise criteria for welfare, make a screening process so we don't waste taxpayer money on people who are perfectly capable of making a living on their own but instead rely on their welfare check every month.

2) Base funding for public education on average income of the district, lower income districts should get more to develop their schools. Educated people have a far better chance of providing for themselves and contributing to society than an uneducated person.

3) Raise salaries of public school teachers. Not too many people truly realize the effect that teachers have on the future of this country.

4) Toughen immigration and deportation laws, punish businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens of any ethnicity. Voila, there's at least 10 million jobs for unskilled workers.

5) Create a flat Federal Tax. No loop-holes, no short cuts, no deductibles. Everyone pays a set percentage of their annual income, whether it be a steady salary or a "gift".



These are about the only things I could think of right now, if I really sat down and thought of ways I could help I'd post more but right now I can't.

Answer 4

Why do you, people from the United States, keep saying America when you should say The United States of America? I live in America as well, but I am not from the US. That's why you live with the terror of being bombed anytime, you think the world goes round your bellybuttons.
I heard these days a guy answering on TV: "What do you think of the United States in the World Cup?", the guy goes: "We Americans, the best of all, the greatest, the most and blah, blah, blah". The guy is so stupid that answered a question for which he doesn't know the answer. He hasn't even heard of the nice defeat the US team had in their first match.

Pfooei!!!

Answer 5

Realistically, it'll take government action to do it.

I'm not talking about the current welfare system in the US, but real postive actions.

Here's my idea. Work off the following premise:

You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Take that principal and apply it to poverty.

OK, so instead of just giving poor people money, give them a means to help themselves crawl out of poverty.

For example, free college education for people that earn less than a certain dollar amount. Or, free education for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Heck, free college education, or dirt cheap loans for people who want to go to college.

Entrepreneur training, and dirt cheap loans for people to start businesses after getting business degrees and training.

Those are just a couple suggestions, but you get the main idea.

Secondly, we need to consider the second tier of poverty. Those who can't help themselves. (Despite what right wingers say, there are people who are poor who cannot get out of poverty.) Who are they? The elderly, the mentally and physically disabled, those who've become unemployed, or have lost their jobs to do changes in technology or because of outsourcing.

Those are just some ideas off the top of my head.

We need to be realistic about poverty and its causes to really deal with poverty. Claiming people are poor because they are lazy is an ignorant and false assumption. (Although, there are lazy people in this world.)

I think we can cure poverty if we as a society are willing to work together to help everyone out who needs it. There really is no need for poverty in the 21st Century America.

Answer 6

Realistically, education is the only solution to poverty. However, only about 25% of people in poverty DO NOT WANT TO BE THERE. For the rest, it's a comfortable lifestyle as they do not want to work up to a higher income.

Answer 7

a. Boot the illegals out of lower-paying or physical jobs and leave those open- whether as side jobs or as full-time jobs. This will help people who aren't very strong mentally but strong physically and/or people who lost their jobs due to the illegals.
b. Stop outsourcing jobs, and donate money to businesses- big or small- that hire citizens.
c. Make it illegal to be panhandling, and make sure shelters check for drugs, alcohol, etc. This will help people turn their lives around.
d. Try to stop people- especially older teen girls and younger adult women- from having sex before they are financially ready for children.
e. Give tax-cuts to anyone who works or owns a business-big or small- that they work at and/or hire citizens.
f. Cut welfare down to the point where you have to show need for it and can only have it for up to a certain amount of time. (Same thing with public housing, food stamps, etc.)

Answer 8

They could start by giving tax breaks to the middle class & poor.
Also, they could encourage employers to give raises - stores
around here - you're lucky if you get a dime a yr. That is, while
their managers are getting thousands in bonus' every other
month.
Instead of giving CEO's overblown, million dollar pensions, they
could stop down sizing their employees.
Universal health care could really improve things.
Increase minimum wage to meet the rise of gas prices.

Answer 9

possibly by allowing only citizens of this country to benefit from medicare and welfare and such. It seems to me as though our us dollars are so often spent on foreigners, either outside of this country or inside this country, who have not even gone through the process to become citizens yet or have no intention to, but still expect our financial support. I do not have a problem with foreigners, however, if your not a citizen of this country, why should persons who are be neglected because our country is supporting the rest of the worlds poverty, first

Answer 10

Improve the US school system and stop basing the amount of money put into a school on the property tax for the area surrounding the school.