Social Policy

When it comes to food assistance, welfare, and prisons, it is clear that we need to be developing better prevention and more effective long term solutions. Changing this will require comprehensive and coordinated reforms in education, training, and economic development. It is also time for responsible drug-law reform, because the war on drugs is creating more problems worldwide than it is solving.

The recent attacks against food assistance and unemployment show a Congress out of touch with the reality of the problems faced by a large number of Americans. Hunger is still a very real problem for our nation's poor and without a stronger economy and improved access to education and training, we can expect little change. We need to stop applying solutions to the symptoms and develop programs that provide the right incentives and services so that they become a stepping stone to a better life instead of just a means for surviving.

With smart, sensible drug policy reform we can relieve the strain put on our nation's courts and prison system and begin to focus on treating all substance abuse problems equally. We also need to make simultaneous reforms in our education system to ensure that youth are on a path to becoming healthy and productive citizens.