Poverty

NEW: Taxing the Poor: The Regressive Nature of State-Local Tax Systems [Spring 2013 JustSouth Quarterly]

By Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ

In the news lately are calls by Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and other governors to eliminate their state personal and corporate income taxes and to substitute higher sales taxes in plans that will remain “revenue neutral” (namely, no additional income, just shifting tax burdens). To assess such plans morally, one needs to look first at the current state-local tax burdens of state populations. Then we can assess the impact and morality of proposed changes. More>>

OUR PERSPECTIVE:

An Introduction to Poverty and Measures of Poverty

By Fred Kammer, SJ

Poverty is one of the three focus areas for the work of JSRI. In their 1986 book-length pastoral letter Economic Justice for All the US Bishops reminded us of the importance of confronting poverty in these words: "Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest priority."

But what does it mean to speak of poverty in the United States? Drawing on the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching, the bishops explained it this way, “By poverty, we are referring here to the lack of sufficient material resources required for a decent life.” Then, in the next sentence, they acknowledge the complexity of the question, “We use the government’s definition of poverty, although we recognize its limits.” And a footnote introduces elements of the national debate about what we call “the poverty line.” [Continue on to MORE about measuring poverty and poverty in the Gulf South.]