Washington, D.C. – At a rally yesterday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Senator Barack Obama joined Senator John Edwards in support of Half in Ten: From Poverty to Prosperity, a campaign to cut poverty in half in ten years. Introducing Sen. Obama, Sen. Edwards announced, “Yesterday, I was in Philadelphia and I was announcing an initiative to cut poverty in half the next ten years, and I am proud to say today that Barack Obama stands with me in this cause.”
Senator Obama followed Senator Edwards. "You should never be homeless, you should never be hungry," he said. As president, he vowed to "lift up every American out of poverty."
In Philadelphia on Tuesday Senator Edwards announced that he will serve as National Chair of “Half in Ten.” The campaign brings together four organizations with the experience, knowledge, and resources to make this goal a reality: ACORN, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. To achieve its goals, the campaign promises to do the following:
· Elevate and sustain a focus on the situations facing the poor and middle class today
· Build and strengthen an effective constituency to demand legislative action on poverty and economic mobility
· Advance specific legislative and policy proposals that will deliver real benefits to struggling American families.
For more information on how to reduce poverty in America, see From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half by the Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty.
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