Clinton vs. Obama on Poverty Issues February 19, 2008
GWENDOLYN MINK
Co-editor of the two-volume Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy and author of Welfare's End, Mink said today: "Although Obama insists he is the candidate 'for change,' his record on poverty issues does not offer bold new visions for economic justice. Quite the opposite, in fact: Obama's top anti-poverty commitments repeat the well-worn bromides of Clinton- era welfare reform. Obama supports an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit. Bill Clinton accomplished the first big EITC expansion in the early 1990s. Obama sponsored responsible fatherhood legislation that links poverty reduction to fathers' contributions to families. Hillary Clinton introduced a responsible fatherhood bill several years before Obama, soon after she arrived in the Senate.
"At least on his website, he exclusively links poverty reduction to labor market reforms, and so neglects larger questions of economic justice for caregiving work performed for one's own dependent family members. Notably, Obama gives little attention to the interaction of inequalities in the lives of the poor, especially racial and gender inequality.
"The point is not that Obama is worse than Clinton on poverty -- certainly anyone who has engaged struggles against Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization knows that Clinton is not necessarily the better ally of the poor. The point is that Obama's record on poverty does not bear out the hype that he personifies change."