With 46 million people living in poverty, why are the presidential candidates so quiet on issues affecting the poor?
Despite persistent poverty across the US, President Barack Obama, and his republican challenger, Mitt Romney, rarely mention the country’s most vulnerable. Why are the poor being ignored?
| “They are certainly not addressing it in the campaign, Obama may return to some of these issues after the elections – assuming he is re-elected – but even then we expect to see a grand bargain out of Obama in the lame duck period. And that is not necessarily going to help seniors … so Obama is better than Mitt, but neither one of them are addressing it in the campaign. “
– Marcy Wheeler, investigative blogger |
And while the economy will be the main focus of the first presidential debate on Wednesday, so far, the country’s poor have been left out of the conversation.
That is despite the more than 46 million people who now live below the poverty line. And tens of millions more are at risk, as median incomes continue to decline.
For more on this story, visit: Ignoring America’s poor – Inside Story: US 2012 – Al Jazeera English.
