"Poverty is Poison" - Krugman

Monday's piece in the New York Times by Paul Krugman is a reminder of the importance of using government to help end poverty in the United States. With John Edwards out of the race, and Obama preoccupied with defending himself from attacks by Hillary Clinton, progressives could do with a reminder of the importance of bringing equality to people in this country.

"...neuroscientists have found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development.” The effect is to impair language development and memory — and hence the ability to escape poverty — for the rest of the child’s life. So now we have another, even more compelling reason to be ashamed about America’s record of failing to fight poverty."

You can read the entire article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?ei=5088&en=4338527600a6670b&ex=1361077200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print