As we come into the February 5 (Super Tuesday) primaries, John Edwards is returning to New Orleans tomorrow for a major policy address on poverty. Recently, discussion of important issues like ending poverty has given way to sniping and personal attacks between the two frontrunner candidates.
Ending poverty and fighting for the middle class is our cause. John Edwards will urge the nation and our Party to refocus on this important issue and end the petty squabbling.
Come with me around the fold for more.
John Edwards has made rebuilding the city a central part of his presidential campaign.
In the spring of 2006 Edwards led more than 700 college students on an alternative spring break to help rebuild a New Orleans neighborhood.
John Edwards announced he was running for president in New Orleans in December 2006.
The Day Before:
The Actual Announcement:
In April 2007, he announced Six New Proposals to Help Get New Orleans Back on its Feet
Here in May 2007, he worked on a New Orleans home with Danny Glover:
The July launch of his "Road to One America" tour was in New Orleans:
"We are not the country of the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina," said Edwards. "We can do better. We have a moral responsibility to get New Orleans back on its feet."
Edwards' plan to rebuild New Orleans is based on: (1) rebuilding infrastructure – housing, schools, and hospitals – that is built to last so that people have something to come back to, (2) creating jobs to bring them back, (3) making the city safe from storms – with levees that can withstand another Katrina, and strengthening public safety to keep residents safe from crime.
Twenty-two months after President Bush promised to rebuild New Orleans on national TV from Jackson Square, vast stretches of the city and St. Bernard Parish remain deserted. Based on mail delivery data, the city's population is barely 60 percent of what it once was and according to the latest data from FEMA, more than 80,000 families from the Gulf are still living in FEMA trailers. [GNOCDC/Brookings, 2007; FEMA, 4/12/07; FEMA, 5/24/07]
The pace of recovery is slow. The displaced African-American population, in particular, has been slow to return. The economy is growing stronger, but the availability of affordable housing and services are significant barriers to residents returning. Employment is down in the sectors where many moderate-income displaced residents worked, like health care and the public sector, including education. Murders have spiked. At the end of this past school year, only 45 percent of New Orleans public schools operating pre-Katrina had re-opened. [GNOCDC/Brookings, 2007]
John Edwards began his Road to One America tour in New Orleans because the challenge of building One America starts right here. Edwards announced a three-part plan for rebuilding the city: (1) rebuilding infrastructure—housing, schools, and hospitals—that is built to last so that people have something to come back to, (2) creating jobs to bring them back , (3) making the city safe from storms—with levees that can withstand another Katrina, and strengthening public safety to keep residents safe from crime.
Building One America Starts in New Orleans
As Edwards Kicks-Off Road To One America Tour, Senator Announces Three-Point Plan To Rebuild New Orleans
John Edwards continued to speak about the need to rebuild New Orleans:
Senator John Edwards speaks to a crowd of students about the conditions in New Orleans.
And in November, when Edwards was joined by supporters on a project to rebuild housing.
Now he is returning yet again to New Orleans for a major speech on poverty.
January 30, 2008 - 12:00 p.m. CT
John Edwards will deliver a major policy address on poverty and volunteer on the Habitat for Humanity project at the Musicians' Village.
Musicians' Village
4000 North Roman Street (Intersection of Roman and Bartholomew)
New Orleans, Louisiana
"We still have Two Americas today – one for those at the top and one for everyone else, and there is no better example of this than what happened after Hurricane Katrina." Edwards said. "But we are not the country of the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina. We can do better. We must fulfill our moral responsibility to get New Orleans back on its feet and fight to build One America, where every person has the chance to work hard and get ahead."
Major Policy Address On Poverty
Martin Luther King, III last week implored John Edwards to continue his campaign:
I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.
So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.
Sincerely,
Martin L. King, III
Martin Luther King, III Praises Edwards For Leading The Fight For Economic Justice In America
Here's a big reason why:
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father's legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.
snip
You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don't have lobbyists in Washington and they don't get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.
Martin Luther King, III Praises Edwards For Leading The Fight For Economic Justice In America
This why he continues and we continue to support him:
From the very beginning, our campaign has been about one central thing: giving voice to millions of Americans who have absolutely no voice in our democracy.
If you are worried about your health care or, like 47 million other Americans you have no health care, your voice will be heard in this campaign.
If you're one of 37 million Americans who wake up every single day, worried about how to feed and clothe your children and living in poverty, your voice will be heard in America -- and it will be heard in this campaign and we will speak and fight for you.
If you're worried about being able to pay for your child to be able to go to college and being able to pay for tuition and books, your voice will be heard in this campaign -- and it will be heard in America.
If you're one of the forgotten middle class, working and struggling just to pay your bills, worrying every single day about what may be around the corner, we will give you a voice in this campaign.
And if you're one of the extraordinary men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States with pride and honor and served this country patriotically, and you're not getting the health care you need or deserve, your voice will be heard in this campaign. If you're one of the 200,000 veterans living in America who every night go to sleep under bridges, in shelters or on heating grates, your voice will be heard in America.
That's why this campaign moves on to February 5 and "Super Tuesday" when millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of the Democratic Party and, most importantly, help shape the future of America.
Thank you for standing with me as, together, we take this campaign to the Democratic Convention, to the nomination -- and then to the White House.
Your support as we move forward means that the voices of millions of voiceless Americans will be heard.
Sincerely,
John Edwards
January 27, 2008
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