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September 13, 2005
Never mind the 'we've tried' stuff
Oh, this just slays me.
Out of the welter of political problems for President Bush that have come about as a result of Hurricane Katrina is the issue of poverty.
In the face of a lot of criticism about how Bush Administration policies have not helped the poor in America, apologists are talking nonsense and defending President Bush against accusations of neglecting the poor with stuff like:
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Meanwhile, White House officials say Bush has focused on the problems of the poor throughout his presidency with programs such as subsidies for low-income home buyers and income tax cuts for the working poor. "The president has had an aggressive campaign to lift people out of poverty and to empower them," said Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman.
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Now here's the part that is bugging me.
Mr. Bush has, in spite of his rhetoric about wanting to pursue strategies that will help poor people lift themselves out of poverty, he has also simultaneously withdrawn or tried to withdraw every single shred of support of the federal government for microenterprise development -- the initiatives that support entrepreneurship and business ownership among low-income people.
In fact, since he took office, Bush has
* tried to eliminate the Program for Investment in Microenterprise
* tried to eliminate the New Markets programs for low-income and moderate-income entrepreneurs
* tried to eliminate the Native American outreach program and the Tribal Business Information Centers
* tried to eliminate the Microloan and Microloan Technical Assistance programs
* tried to eliminate the Empowerment Zone program
* tried to dismantle the Women's Business Center program (which works with a lot of low-income women)
* cut funding to the Economic Development Administration
* cut funding to the Minority Business Development Administration
* cut funding to the HUBZone program
Even now, Bush is talking about schools and job training and housing but everything his administration has done seems to point to a philosophy that says poor people can't or don't want to or don't need to or shouldn't be allowed to reach for that ultimate American dream of small business ownership.
Democrats may complain about the failure of compassionate conservatism and Republicans may complain about the failure of New Society anti-poverty initiatives. And they'd both be right.
But there is only one method of federally funded support for poor people that has been proved to simultaneously help them become economically self-sufficient and bring them into the economic mainstream and put them into a position and give them an incentive to help clean up their communities and create jobs not only for them but also for their neighbors ...
... and that method is microenterprise development.
So, for all the pretty words, Mr. President, I'll be interested to see what the next budget you submit to Congress looks like.
You can claim you've been trying to work the problem but we all know that's bunk. It's results that matter and you have none to show for yourself.
Posted by The Journal Blogger at September 13, 2005 12:10 PM
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