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Ending Poverty Requires Serious Policy, Not Political Platitudes
Another exercise in nonsense by state lawmakers in California.
by Steven Greenhut Reason.com
At times, the California Legislature is reminiscent of a high-school student council, except that instead of working with few-hundred-dollar activities budget lawmakers are spending more than $300 billion in revenues. I’m not the first commentator to notice that politicians often promise things they can’t possibly provide—and are no more realistic than a student body president offering free pizza on Fridays.
What can you do? Democracy is, as Winston Churchill said, “the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Fast forward to the latest capitol silliness. A group of Democratic lawmakers is starting the End Poverty In California caucus, which is unlikely to be as EPIC as its name suggests. Ending poverty is a large promise—and the Legislature is much better at passing laws that exacerbate poverty (minimum wage, anti-competitive union work rules, onerous licensing requirements) rather than reduce it.