Poverty problems need statewide solutions

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty in the United States with plans to decrease the percentages of starving people and help those by providing all of their needs. Today, poverty reportedly is as rampant as it was then with 40 percent of the nation in that number.

One of the problems today is a political one in which the parties do not agree on the solution. Democrats want to expand on the amounts of handouts while Republicans want to keep it in line with present handouts and seek other solutions.

One of the most promising ideas comes from Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida who proposes that the federal government turn over the federal funds to help the poor to the states to administer. That seems to be a much more effective way to do it.

After all, state governments are closer to the people than the federal government. They know what their needs are and should be able to help them more satisfactorily and in a more timely fashion.

In many other fields of governmental endeavors, states are in a better position to do the job. One such field is restoration and protection of the Louisiana coast. Problem is, the federal government is in control of most of the money to do it.

This country was divided into 50 states mainly for one reason – for the people to run most of their governments’ actions. That can be done better at the local level, such as Baton Rouge, rather than Washington D. C.

Some problems have to be solved at the federal level, such as those involving other countries, and we have to stand united at the federal level.

But with problems such as how to decrease the poverty level in this country, local input can become more important since their solutions can address the economic conditions of individual states and the educational systems that can help improve them. This can differ from state to state and require different solutions.

Of course, the feds can stand behind us and examine what we are doing and offer recommendations for solutions. If we’re using money from the federal government and wasting it, it is time for the feds to step in.

However, it is much better for 50 state governments to solve governmental problems than it is to allow the gigantic bureaucracy in Washington to waste their funds and efforts to try and do it.