Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Costs of being poor

I found an enlightening article today (thanks Reddit) on the costs of being poor. Here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053.html?referrer=emailarticle

It made me think, we seem to hear lots of people talk about big projects to help relieve the burdens of poverty but I think maybe we need to take smaller steps. Could churches provide 'not for profit' laundromats? I was without a washer and dryer for a while and it cost quite a bit to get your laundry done. Cities give tax incentives to businesses all the time, how about tax breaks for a grocery store to locate in a low income area, maybe with some agreement that the store keep prices reasonable. How about limits on the cost to cash a payroll check? I wouldn't think that payroll checks would bounce too often. This is pretty off-the-cuff but I think that these ideas make sense. Any thoughts?