Candidates’ priorities are not always the issues that impact voters most. Oklahoma’s low voter turnout records verify that. Thus, the Oklahoma Poor People’s Campaign (OKPPC) created a survey to ask candidates in the upcoming election if they would support the issues in our priorities targeted at abolishing poverty. We sent a survey to all Oklahoma candidates running for Congress and only received one response (link to response).
Since most candidates did not respond to our survey, we are attaching copies of them for you to consider. There is one each for the Federal House of Representatives, State Senate, and State House of Representative races. They outline the common sense means of ending poverty and raising the entire well-being of all people. If you get the chance, ask candidates where they stand on these issues that impact you and your family or your neighbors and friends.
While poverty is not the only issue voters must consider, it impacts all aspects of our lives. Healthy well-educated/trained people are the bedrock of successful businesses. The very definition of a living wage is a family that has enough money to survive to thrive. Every dime of a living wage returns to the economy. People who earn a living wage, in general, would not qualify for public assistance. For able-bodied people to receive these services, they must work or be actively seeking work. Thus, such public assistance is welfare for the businesses that do not pay a living wage.
Some candidates are running on a platform that reduces Social Security and raises the retirement age. Current Social Security payments reflect the impact of the minimum wage being retained at an ever-decreasing level since 2009. Social Security benefits need to be raised not reduced. Persons with disabilities and the elderly’s livelihood cannot be lost in the greed of those who do not recognize the contributions made by these people whose work is responsible for their employers’ success today.
MORE RESOURCES:
Oklahoma Poor People’s Campaign’s 2025 Congressional Action Steps Needed toward Abolishing Poverty