In the first step towards President Obama's income inequality fight, he is unveiling "Promise Zones" today... we can't wait to hear this one..."Promise Zones are a new way of doing business,” the administration official said. “They will be led by local community leadership working toward a common goal … supported by the federal government.” Participants will get priority for federal grants and help applying from an array of agencies. Wonderful, sounds great - how are we paying for that again?
Via Reuters,
President Barack Obama is set to speak on Thursday about how he will target job creation, housing, law enforcement and education in the poorest U.S. communities, part of his pledge to narrow the gap between rich and poor in America.
Obama signaled last month that he plans a new focus this year on income inequality, which he called “the defining challenge of our time”, pushing to raise the minimum wage and find new ways to help poor children break out of the cycle of poverty.
As part of this effort, Obama will create “promise zones” in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, southeastern Kentucky, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the White House said on Wednesday.
The announcement came on the 50th anniversary of a pledge by former President Lyndon Johnson to wage a “war on poverty” which led to government programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and Head Start preschool education programs.
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The designation is designed to help communities navigate programs that already exist, said Megan Martin, a policy analyst at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington.
“A lot of what they’re offering is in fact not funding – they’re offering direct contact with the federal government, high-quality technical assistance, up-to-date tools and resources for sites to use,” Martin said in an interview.