F.D.R.'s "brain trust" provided the intellectual framework for his New Deal speech at the 1932 Convention and for many of the policies that he enacted in his first term — policies that eased the financial crisis, expanded poverty relief, and created a modern regulatory system.
The recent recession provided powerful proof of the value of this "counter-cyclical" response, as safety net programs averted what would have been a much larger increase in poverty (under an expanded poverty measure that includes the income from these safety net programs), given the doubling of the unemployment rate.
I am for expanding poverty programs and raising the minimum wage and a strong public education system in poor neighborhoods and a path to citizenship for immigrants because I want them able to join the middle class.
But the ensuing decades have witnessed the consistent characterization of the descendants of enslaved Africans as an unemployable burden on society and the enforcement of what author Michelle Alexander calls "the New Jim Crow," manifest in increasing criminalization, incarceration, expanding poverty, police brutality and denial of other human rights, including voting rights.
The Workers' party is likely to continue expanding poverty-relief programs, raising the minimum wage and maintaining near record levels of employment, while building stronger alliances in South America and among groups of emerging economies, such as Brics.
"He took over what was a fairly sleepy institution, focussed on infrastructure development, and he had a lot of ideas about new areas it should expand into: poverty, education, health care, family planning.
Consequently, poverty and indigence (or extreme poverty) expanded beginning in 1990, as shown in Table 2, and levels remain essentially unchanged today.
Thus, while national and economic security featured, the speech overwhelmingly focused on social reform: equality of opportunity, an "assault on poverty", expanded home ownership, a strong stand on race discrimination, integration and cohesion, and prison reform.
What started off as an effort to support the tens of thousands of women who were widowed during the fighting was expanded to alleviate poverty and empower women, said Ferdousi Sultana Begum, senior social development officer at the Asian Development Bank in Dhaka.
The launch of a "War on Poverty" expanded entitlement and welfare spending.
The War on Poverty expanded Social Security, created Medicare and Medicaid, moved food stamps from a pilot to a permanent one, created Head Start, Job Corps and VISTA.
