Obama Endorses Calls for New Federal Poverty Measure

Obama Endorses Calls for New Federal Poverty Measure

By David Nather | July 18, 2008 1:30 PM



Here’s a development that could have significant implications if Barack Obama wins the presidency: He has endorsed the idea of updating the federal measure of poverty, a proposal that is slowly gaining some traction after years of being confined to quiet talk among poverty experts.

New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg called for a new poverty measure this week, and Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington held a hearing on his own proposal yesterday in the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, which he chairs.

But Obama’s support for the idea has the potential to advance the idea significantly, if he wins the election and pushes for it aggressively.

“Senator Obama knows that the federal poverty guidelines, which were developed decades ago, simply do not take into account the rising costs of child care, health care, transportation, and housing that make it difficult for many families to make ends meet in our globalizing economy,” campaign spokesman Nick Shapiro told me yesterday.

“Senator Obama believes that we should modernize the federal poverty guidelines to more accurately reflect the costs of living and the economic pressures on American families. Without an accurate measure of poverty and economic insecurity in America, we will not be able to fully tackle the effects of these problems on our children and families.”

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http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/beyond/2008/07/obama-endorses-calls-for-new-f.html

they need adjusting according to each state's cost of living too. There's no one size fits all.

Shine some light on the outdated standards, and bring them up-to-date.

logical sense..Rec'd~