Poverty and Wealth in America
TBW and Mainstream Coalition General Meeting
Tuesday, April 28 • 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Matt Ross Community Center • 8101 Marty Street, Overland Park
We’ve heard the soundbites:
Mitt Romney: “All right, there are 47 percent … who are
dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims,
who believe the government has a responsibility to care for
them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food,
to housing, to you-name-it – that that’s an entitlement. And the
government should give it to them. And they will vote for this
president no matter what... These are people who pay no income
tax... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never
convince them they should take personal responsibility and care
for their lives.”
From Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address: “‘Will we
accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?
Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising
incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”
Elizabeth Warren: “When productivity and profits increase, is there a reason the minimum wage should not
increase as well? Should we all not participate in this increased wealth?”
Oxfam reports that the 80 wealthiest people in the world had a total net worth of 1.9 trillion dollars, which is
equal to the wealth of 3.5 billion people at the bottom 50 percent of the world’s population. The US now has the
highest level of income inequality since the 1920s.
What does all this mean, and how can we respond in conversations and action? Come to our next general
meeting, co-sponsored with the Mainstream Coalition, to hear Judy Ancel give an insightful and engaging
presentation on these issues and more. Judy is a Professor and Director of UMKC’s Worker Education and
Labor Studies Institute, Coordinator of the Heartland Labor Forum, and President of the Board of Directors of
the Cross Border Network for Justice and Solidarity . Those unaccompanied minors at our southern border –
she can explain that too!
RSVPs are requested, but not required. To register, go to truebluewomen.org and click on the Events tab.