Homeless man on National Mall (cc photo: Elvert Barnes); ABC‘s David Muir at December 19 Democratic debate in Manchester, N.H.
Over 45 million Americans live in poverty—but you wouldn’t think potential leaders of the country are expected to know or care anything about this, listening to the questions asked by the elite journalists who moderated the Democratic debates this primary season.
A FAIR analysis of all nine democratic debates over the past seven months shows that not one question was asked about poverty. By contrast, 30 questions were asked about ISIS or terrorism (almost half of them concentrated in the December 19 debate, which took place days after the San Bernardino shootings) and 11 questions were asked Russia. Ten questions were asked about socialism or communism, all of which were directed at Bernie Sanders.
The candidates themselves have brought up poverty, either in their prepared remarks or in response to more abstract questions about the economy. Sanders brought up poverty in all but two debates, broaching the topic 12 times, or approximately 1.3 times per debate. Clinton brought up the issue five times in total, or a little more than once every other debate.
According to the 2014 census, 14.5 percent of Americans, or over 45 million people, live in poverty, up from 11.3 percent in 2000. Child poverty (which Sanders points out consistently) is especially troubling, with an estimated 16 million Americans under the age of 18 living below the poverty line.
A 2011 study attributed 133,000 deaths a year to poverty-related illnesses. Poverty has also been linked to diminished IQ in children—in the United States, but not in other wealthy countries—and has been shown to impact economic gains, overall health and quality of life. Put simply: Poverty touches large swaths of America, by any objective metric.
Americans are literally a million times more likely to live in poverty than to have been killed by “jihadi terror” since 9/11: The total figure for the latter is 45, or about 3 people a year. According to the Washington Post (11/23/15), the average American is more likely to be killed by home furniture than a terrorist.
While vague notions of “inequality” or “economic anxiety” were touched on occasionally, the issue of poverty and its effects remained entirely absent. No specific questions about poverty, its causes or possible federal solutions were asked by any of the moderators in any of the nine debates. If any of the candidates had a plan to ameliorate the plight of the poor, the moderators weren’t interested in hearing about it.
Eight out of the nine debates were hosted by a subsidiary or joint venture of one of four corporations: Comcast, Viacom, Disney and Time Warner (combined market value $383 billion).
CORRECTION: The rate per year for Islamist terror deaths was originally given as 0.33, not 3. Candidate mentions of poverty adjusted.
Adam Johnson is a contributing analyst for FAIR.org. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamJohnsonNYC.
The place where the poor will never be with us
The only reason no one speaks of it is because the ones that could do something about it “really don’t care”. That would take money, enichitive, and want and the GOP has done everything in their power for the last 7 years to stop ANYTHING getting done in President Obama’s term. As long as the GOP has control of the House and Senate, this kind of stuff will never get done. Right now our State elections are even more important than the Presidency election.
Are Americans “literally” more likely to be poor than killed by terrorists? How about, they are just more likely to be poor. I am the “Anti-Literally” troll and I smite your use of this overused word. I literally am literally sick about it. Literally.
Rest of the article is very good.
Nice piece, Adam. In passing I would just mention that “inequality” doesn’t have to be a vague notion. From reading the work of Goran Therborn and Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett I found the concept put to good use. Therborn identifies three inequalities; real, which is produced by all capitalist societies, existential which includes practices like racism, and resource which leaves people in want. The work of Wilkinson and Pickett shows clearly how inequality is connected to a host of social ills, and has graphed all OECD countries, and helpfully compares US states in graphs as well. I do get your point about the debates and media though. Thanks for you efforts.
Well at least it’s in the Sanders stump speech.
Maybe because the electorate sees itself as distressed millionaires?
Sanders’ poverty mentions from the table adds up to 16, not 12, making an average of 1.78 times per debate.
They don’t mention it, because it doesn’t affect them, and they don’t expect it ever will. When the poor cease to have anything the elite want, then they become disposable and are tossed on the rubbish heap with complaints about how much effort it takes to throw them there. The whole American dream has been co-opted by an elitist club who consider themselves ‘superior’ because they are more ruthless thieves and scallywags than the people around them.
It’s amazing how quickly capitalist consumerism can turn formerly good people into inhuman, sociopathic monsters.
Well said Morgaine, to the point and accurate.
How do I begin this, is the question. Going through a divorce, I found this book, Learning to Leave. It was a pretty good book as I remember, but one of the things it addressed was that there is no Prince Charming who is going to come and save you. Or Cinderella if it applies. So, what then? You figure out a way to make it.
Since no one is listening, nor do they care, more than happy to bleed us to death, it is up to US. WE THE PEOPLE who want our country back. They say there is no money, right?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/federal-loans-bank-of-america-113920
Tons more where that came from. I won’t even get into all the schemes that are out there to rip you off. Just watch the advertisements, and start checking out the companies behind all that.
I have experienced what is going on in more ways than I care to know, including a very illegal court case. Citibank running activity on a closed account, it goes on and on. I lost everything during this journey. However, while this was occurring, I experienced something. I call it divine intervention. I started doing a lot of research and what I found was, laws being changed, sometimes 35 in a day, rights being taken away or sabotaged, lies that were generated to keep it all going, all the propaganda that was being created, etc. I began to see how it was all interconnected and now, I can connect the dots. What I found was that the picture does not look very good for US.
In searching for what was wrong, I had to refocus. Start looking for what could be a change agent. How some were starting to move above the banter out there that is only harming US. The US that has been forgotten.
Globalization is not working unless you like the fact that everything you buy comes from any place, but the U.S., while WE THE PEOPLE, get cast aside. We have allowed ourselves to become a throw away society. So while we complain we stay reliant on the dictators. I see this everywhere, globally. Just watching the garbage pile up, recycling some plastics but not all, hence more land fills, just makes no sense. We have become consumed with getting the next best thing, as if that will brighten our Souls. We propagate slavery in many forms in the name of want. We have been programmed to need, consume, and detest those who we believe to be inferior. Somewhere along the path, the Golden Rule got replaced by the Silver Rule. We have allowed THEM to decide what is good for us, while they take their profits over US. We need to see that we, are part of the problem and if WE THE PEOPLE don’t take some action, the poverty levels will only grow.
Things are being done in many places to combat this issue. Small scale right now, but the movement is growing. We can make it, without THEM. Might seem like a dream, but suppose, I just throw out a few ideas and trust me I know how corrupt it is out there.
A easy place to start is with two books. Small Is Beautiful..Economics as if People Mattered, E.F. Schumacher and The Abundant Community..Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods, John McKnight and Peter Block.
Check out Schumacher.com. Very much into a Buddhist Economic platform that is more serving and about creating. Land grants, businesses and they have there own currency. I bumped into an article at one point. A woman from the Tea Party was sick of the internet server who was a big corporation, so she got people together and they created there own. In searching Employee Owned Businesses, which I love, I found a place in one of the Carolina’s. They weren’t making it. So communities formed a Co-op and started to create manufacturing. Furniture and textiles. Then they put it into the school systems so the kids could learn how to manufacture. Google, Giant America. Check out their manifesto. It can be done. We just have to work together.
If we can put a man on the moon, certainly, we can begin to create again. We need jobs, adequate health care, social justice, stability you know the list. We need America back and looking at the political climate, which is basically, more of the same, I just don’t see it happening. Perhaps, we need to, Learn How To Leave, because WE THE PEOPLE, the children of Immigrants, and natives, can create it.
I think that many don’t talk about the poor because they are afraid that being poor—could soon be them. I am poor off and on, depending on what the job pays. Currently jobs are not paying and rent is going up——–and many in government can’t seem to recognize this. A country can’t remain a country if the wage survival gap gets to be too wide. Congress should read World history.
1 % people should think about all the people that they pay ( not very much to either) to run their lives and businesses and wonder what will happen when that army of workers who make their lives function walks away or does a bad job on purpose. That is the really sad thing about human nature—–that at a certain point revenge tales over mindfulness———–we aren’t there yet——but when governments cut health care, and food and job protections———–ANGER, probably the stroongert emotion takes over and every nation loses when that becomes the game.