More on Poverty
September 24th, 2006
The Times and the News look at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to reduce poverty and like what they see.
The News praises the mayor for taking on the task. With more than 1.5 million New Yorkers with incomes below the poverty line, the paper says, “Bloomberg gets credit for taking on a problem that has remained unsolved since the U.S. lost the 1960s’ ‘war on poverty.’”
The News is taken with the idea of a tax credit to help parents pay child care costs: “a ‘hand up,’ not a ‘hand out.’
The Times is less enthusiastic about that idea, saying, “Tax credits and the paperwork required to claim them could be onerous; a direct refund …would be less cumbersome.”
But it too gives the mayor high grades for effort: “Mr. Bloomberg deserves applause for listening to critics who have pressed him to pay attention to the city’s neediest.” Now, the editorial continues, the mayor has to create specific policies, find money to pay for them and work to increase the number of good jobs to help people get ahead. “Right now,” the Times says, “about one-quarter of the jobs in the city pay poverty wages, often without health care or other benefits. That all but guarantees a dead end for the poor, no matter how hard they work.”
For other takes on poverty, see The Many Faces of Poverty
By Gail Robinson on September 24, 2006, 9:10 pmIn category: Gotham City, Social Services | 2 Comments »


September 25th, 2006 at 11:20 am
the post had a slightly different take: http://www.nypost.com/seven/09242006/postopinion/editorial/getcha_free_cash_editorials_.htm
September 25th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
[...] – More on PovertyGotham Gazette, NY - 22 hours ago… With more than 1.5 million New Yorkers with incomes below the poverty line, the paper says, Bloomberg gets credit for taking on a problem that has remained … _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Michelle Sarah Jane Anna Nikki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]