On the recordJanuary 9, 2014
It is the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. Although in many ways it has been a success, economic opportunity is still too often a stacked deck. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal stated that J.P. Morgan, the giant Wall Street bank, last year paid out nearly $22 billion due to misdeeds and misrepresentations. The stock market sets new records every day. Wall Street has recovered. When will Main Street? While this is happening, 41 percent of the unemployed people in my district have been out of work for more than 26 weeks. They have run out of unemployment because Congress failed to act. The income difference between the wealthy and workers is greater than any time since the 1920s. Mr. Speaker, when will a nation that proclaims itself a bastion of freedom, both economic and personal, free the poor from the shackles of poverty? ____________________
