September 20: Where's Anger Over Poverty?

By Sylvia Gurinsky

More than 40 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson began a War On Poverty.

America is losing.

U.S. Census figures indicate that one in every seven Americans lives in poverty.

The current economic crisis certainly has pushed the figures up. But it's also symbolic of a long-term mess that actually began after LBJ's anti-poverty campaign did.

The outrage over salaries and bonuses for chief executives of large companies should be mixed with equal outrage for the salaries of rank-and-file workers remaining static since the 1970s. Team that up with outsourcing, downsizing and the biggest elimination of certain occupations as a way of life since the 1890s, and that's how this mess was created.

Tea Party folks angry over the deficit and government spending should be just as angry over corporate non-spending on loyal workers.

Unions that started in the 1800s to fight shoddy working conditions should re-energize in the 21st Century over this issue.

A new War On Poverty is needed - not with more government spending, but with more pressure on Corporate America to get its act together.