TOPIC # 6: POVERTY IN THE USA

Please consider the following potential leading questions.

#1: What are the root causes of poverty in the United States?

#2: Whatever you believe are the cause(s) of poverty in the United States, what roles do you envision for the following “actors” in addressing the cause(s): government (national, state, or local); individual initiative, faith-based organizations, charities, and other mediating institutions of civil society; the workings of a “strong, growing, free enterprise economy?”

#3: Do you perceive a growing gap between the rich and the poor in the United States? If so, do you view that as problematic? Why? And, if you see that as a problem, how can it best be addressed?

#4: What social programs, if any, are most conducive to minimizing poverty in the United States (e.g., welfare cash payments, job training, housing programs, health services)? 

#5: What “tax policies” are most conducive to minimizing poverty in the United States?

#6: In your opinion are the positions taken by one of the political parties or presidential candidates this year particularly helpful or particularly unhelpful in addressing the issue of poverty in the United States?”