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Alex Kim Ms. Keys English 10: Period 1 March 27th, 2013 Poverty Outline I. INTRODUCTION A. Hook As students of the growing age of technology, highly developed electronic devices abound our lives constantly. From ipads to iphones to convertible touch screen laptops, we feel and need to own all these objects of luxury. B. Transition However, these so called necessities of life are not as easily accessible in poorer sectors of the nation. Due to the rising cost of technology, many low-income families cannot afford such luxuries. In some cases, families cannot even afford to feed themselves, degraded into a state of hopeless poverty. C. Background - Wealth Gap Overview (Walter) 1. Explains the measure of difference of financial resources/assets between segments of a community 2. Factors affecting the wealth Gap include education, access to technology, the job market, taxes, and income D. Background Poverty Definition (Spriggs) 1. Poverty line = annual cash income for a particular number of members of a household E. Thesis - In order to truly reduce poverty, the government must focus on giving aid directly to the victims instead of allowing it to "trickle down" through supply side economics. SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF THE PROBLEM/ISSUE A. Poverty Rate Increasing 1. Poverty in America The Poor are Getting Poorer (Spriggs) 2. Example of many African American Communities 3. Unemployment, Low wages, Gender bias B. Racial Wealth Gap 1. Disturbing Racial Wealth Gap (Economy Policy Institute) 2. White Rates fall 4% 3. Richer population dont suffer any loss + enormous wealth gain

II.

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C. Statistics on Poverty based on Race and Family Structure 1. Congressional Digest 2. Black poverty rates from 24.7% -9.4 mil to 25.8% - 9.9 mil 3. Non - Hispanic white rates from 8.6% - 17 mil to 9.4% - 18.5 mil 4. 44% Single mothers = poverty

D. Decline of Welfare Spending 1. The Government Should Improve its Social Service Programs (Wagner) 2. Reagan opposed Welfare with Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Acts 3. Reasoning = encourage poor to find jobs instead of relying on welfare 4. Plan backfires

III.

E. SPECIFIC SOLUTIONS/RESPONSES TO THE PROBLEM/ISSUE A. Social Services 1. The Government Should Improve its Social Service Programs (Wagner) 2. Welfare System would be useful for unemployed workers 3. Give more entitlement benefits so people have better chances to find work B. Minimum Wage Increase 1. Raising the Minimum Wage (Driscoll and Grant) 2. Raising wage would lessen the rate of poverty 3. At the moment, workers paid minimum wage cannot support a family of 3 or over and would end up under the poverty line C. Education 1. The Growth Solution (Carl and Litan) 2. More Education = Better off in future 3. Government can reward teachers based on performance lowering the poverty line for the future (beneficial to students and teachers) D. Asset cushions 1. Poverty is back! (Ezra) 2. Assets = anything of value/economic resources 3. Implement ASPIRE act

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4. Increase the buffer to help aid people to spend time to carefully choose their jobs w/ good pay (long term = positive) E. Reforming Health Care 1. Poverty is back! (Ezra) 2. FEHBP policy implement mandatory health insurance that would save over 80 billion dollars 3. Would save from medical emergency debt F. Entitlements 1. Points of View: Poverty 2. Entitlements = generic term for free items such as food stamps, welfare, unemployment benefits, etc 3. Provisions helps stop disease, death, and crime 4. No need to fight over necessities of life (food, water, shelter) IV. CONNECTIONS TO THE BEAN TREES A. By the time I was in high school and got my first job and all the rest, including the whole awful story about Newt Hardbine which I am about to tell you, he was of course not in school anymore. He was setting tobacco alongside his half-crippled daddy(Kingsolver 3) 1. Instead of receiving an education to go to college, works on field to support his family 2. Circular Poverty No education = no good job = back to farming which causes his children to work on the farm and the cycle repeats B. Whats it pay? Three twenty five an hour. Plus your meals (50). 1. Minimum wage = $3.25 per hour 2. Even with todays minimum wage of $7.00+ families are still under the poverty line..$3.25 in significant to this amount V. CONCLUSION CALL TO ACTION So, given our moral repugnance to the suffering and racial inequality that poverty causes, how should we approach the issue? A supply-side advocate would tell you that we must cut entitlements and lower wages in order to stimulate growth. However, entitlements also cause growth, and to a much more efficient degree while easing suffering at the same time. This is because entitlements give the poor an opportunity to search for a job while unemployed. Furthermore, we must also address healthcare. Our current system leaves already disadvantaged people deeper in poverty after a medical emergency. If we implement mandatory health care, we can easily save 80 billion dollars while making sure that everybody is covered. (Klein 47). We must look towards the root of the problem, instead of indirectly trying to mitigate it.

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Works Cited Congressional Digest Dec. 2010. Points of View. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?vid=9&sid=03b3d8fe-02ed-4263-abfad5b372267a4e%40sessionmgr15&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db =pwh&AN=56623296>. Magazine dedicated to informing the American public about current issues in congress "Disturbing Racial Wealth Gap." Economy Policy Institute. Economic Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Driscoll, Sally, and Richard A. Grant. "Raising the Minimum Wage: An Overview." Raising the Minimum Wage. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1. Print. Klein, Ezra. "Poverty Is Back!" American Prospect: n. pag. Points of View. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?vid=18&sid=03b3d8fe-02ed-4263-abfad5b372267a4e%40sessionmgr15&hid=23&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db= pwh&AN=19727728>. one progressive approach. Moore, Jinna, and Anna Clark. Below the Line: Poverty in America. N.p.: Christian Science, n.d. Print. Points of View: Poverty. Points of View. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. overview of poverty Poverty in America: The Poor are Getting Poorer. Points of View. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Rector, Robert. "Economic Opportunity and Poverty in America." The Heritage Foundation. 13 Feb. 2007. Speech. Schramm, Carl, and Robert E. Litan. "The Growth Solution." American: n. pag. Points of View. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?vid=11&sid=03b3d8fe-02ed4263-abfa-

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d5b372267a4e%40sessionmgr15&hid=23&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db= pwh&AN=33295342>. supply side economics Wagner, Geraldine. "The Government Should Improve its Social Service Programs." Points of View: Poverty. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Points of View. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Walter, Andrew. Introduction. Wealth Gap: Overview. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-4. Points of View. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.