Free Republic

I begin with a personal story to make a greater point. Two weeks ago, I mailed an 8-by-10-inch envelope from a Miami post office to an address in New York State. The postage was correct, as were the address and ZIP code. One week passed, and the recipient emailed to say the envelope had not arrived. So I mailed another one. Last week, he wrote to say that the second one had arrived. A few days after that, he wrote again to say the one mailed earlier had finally been delivered after a 10-day delay. Normally, a first-class mailing would...

Our country spends over a trillion dollars a year on anti-poverty programs. We address the symptoms, providing food, shelter, health care. But it's time to face the fact that many of these programs are not working. Our poverty rate hasn't changed in half a century. Money does not appear to be the solution. Sure, it helps, and no, we should not just cut the programs to zero. But it's time for us to face the fact that, while we've made living in poverty easier, we have not made it easier for individuals and families to move out of poverty; the...