If you attended last week’s 2018 Missouri Poverty Summit, you might have come away with the impression that Missouri is losing the battle against poverty.
That’s not true.
In Missouri, we’ve made improvements in poverty over the last few years. From 2012-17, our state’s poverty rate has dropped from 16.2 percent to 13.4 percent.
In Cole County, the rate is even better: 10.9 percent as of 2016.
In our report on the summit, which we published in Friday’s paper, Jefferson City Rep. Jay Barnes said the divide between political parties has widened, creating difficulties resolving basic questions, such as how to end poverty in Missouri.
We’ve always admired Barnes for calling things the way he sees them, regardless of political ideology. And Barnes is right when he suggests that too many Republicans believe that the rich deserve to be rich and the poor deserve to be poor. He’s also correct that the opposite is true for Democrats: Too many of them believe the rich don’t deserve their money, and the poor are being held down, and don’t deserve to be poor.
The fact is, there are some people who don’t deserve to be rich, and some who don’t deserve to be poor. However, many times, especially over the long haul, we make our own luck.
Some people don’t want to do what it takes to better their lives. Others want to, but need the resources to get on track. Still others — and we believe this applies to many homeless residents — have mental health and/or substance abuse issues that hobble their ability to improve their lives.
The term “ending poverty” is often bandied about at such conferences. It’s an admirable goal, but it’s not realistic. Should we continue to try? Of course, but we have to realize that government isn’t always the solution.
Expanding federal government programs, in many cases, isn’t fiscally responsible, considering our national debt has topped $20 trillion. Earmarking state money toward solutions such as Medicaid expansion must be scrutinized carefully due to the potential high cost.
Here in Jefferson City, our community has many agencies, church communities and other caring individuals who do yeoman’s work toward the goal of ending poverty through their generous donations of time and money.
For that, we should be proud.
News Tribune