Chicago needs a war on poverty to stop the violence

Politicians don’t like to talk about poverty. It’s not the kind of topic that allows them to walk away looking good. If anything, it makes them look like self-serving demagogues who have no idea what it means to be a public servant. In this polarized political climate, there could never be another president to step up like Lyndon B. Johnson did in 1964 and declare an “unconditional war” on poverty. The only thing we can expect out of Washington the next four years is a guarantee that more people will fall through the cracks. Responsibility for the nation’s poor will rest on the shoulders of city and state officials.