The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Wanted: A ‘national conversation’ on poverty

February 4, 2013 at 11:54 a.m. EST

The Post’s Outlook editor Carlos Lozada thinks that President Obama has gone overboard with his numerous calls for a “national conversation” about this or that problem facing the country. I don’t have a problem with conversations. First comes talk, then comes action. It’s the lag time between the two that makes people weary of the former. And nowhere is that weariness more evident than in dealing with persistent poverty, especially children.