We All Need To Help Our Children In Poverty!!!

When Conservatives start ideas, such as that floated by Newt Gingrich, in the Republican Primary, that children should go to work, I start to understand that people who believe that way are cruel and uncaring. I understand I am lumping them all together, but I have not heard any right wing group come forward to challenge Gingrich.

Let's look at some facts. I know how much the right hates talking facts and would be more comfortable using lies, but I will stick by the idea of facts, are better. Over sixteen million children, under the age of 18, live in poverty. That is 22% of that population segment living below the poverty level. Add on to that, seventeen million, one in four, or 25% of our children go to bed hungry each night, and do not get the proper nutrition. This is a national disgrace and one the right tries to ignore. It brings to mind the movie, "A Christmas Carol". You remember the part when the, Ghost of Christmas Present, lifts his robe to show two small children. They were want and ignorance. Scrooge asked the ghost to hide them from his eyes. That is the way many of the people in America want to handle our children. Don't make them look. Out of sight, out of mind.

Yet, this is not just a problem that we can or should ignore. Children that do not have enough of the proper food, will not be able to perform well in school. They will not get proper rest each night. They will drain the health system of funds. As they grow up, they will lack the education to get good paying jobs and maybe end up with no job. They will be more likely to end up committing crimes and thus costing us more with prison costs. the amount we would pay today to ensure they are properly fed, would be returned many times over in the future. This is just looking at the financial costs. Do we not also have a moral responsibility to ensure children are taken care of.

The right wants them to get a job. Support themselves, or decry the fact that their parents do not take responsibility for their children. Yes, I would like to see parents raise their children and support them. Make sure they have the proper food to eat and get medical care. In the real world though, many of those parents are struggling and not able to provide what they should. That is when a caring society steps in to make sure they do not fall through the cracks and end up becoming a further drain on all of us. We should make sure these children get the best education so they can break the cycle of poverty. A great society is one that helps the least within the group. In the end it will only make the group stronger and more plentiful for all. That is what the United States of America stands for. Together we are strong. Divided we all fail.