Lieberman Offers Plan to Cut the Poverty Rate

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  Democratic presidential contender Sen. Joe Lieberman proposed an antipoverty plan Sunday at the historic home of a leader of South Carolina’s civil rights movement.

The plan calls for expanding special individual savings accounts that match investments dollar for dollar, provided the money is used to buy a home, invest in a small business or pay for education.

In addition, the Connecticut senator wants to increase the earned-income tax credit, boost child-care funding and expand aid for legal immigrants.

He said he aims to cut the poverty rate to the lowest in history.

“When I am president, if you are working your heart out every day as millions of Americans are, you will not live in poverty,” Lieberman told supporters at the historic home of Modjeska Monteith Simkins.

“The ladder of opportunity will be there for you to climb. And the rungs on that ladder will be sturdy -- not slippery as they are today,” he said.

Lieberman also wants to create a public-private partnership to bring business community resources to poor schools; provide $1 billion in new antipoverty funding; and create programs to help workers buy dependable cars, establish ride-share programs and expand transit.

Lieberman also wants to expand efforts to reduce teen pregnancy and encourage fathers to be more involved in their children’s lives.

Simkins, whose home was a meeting place for social change in South Carolina, was an African American who helped draft the legal petition for Briggs vs. Elliott, the South Carolina case that was part of the Brown vs. Board of Education lawsuit, which desegregated schools.