--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For all the obsession in Washington and…" description: "\"For all the obsession in Washington and in college faculty lounges over income inequality, why isn't there more outrage over government policies that e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a9/stephen-moore-5060_america_for-all-the-obsession-in-washington-and_1210347.jpg" --- # For all the obsession in Washington and in college faculty… ![“For all the obsession in Washington and in college faculty lounges over income inequality, why isn't there more outrage over government policies that exacerbate the problem? There are hundreds of programs that make the poor poorer and increase poverty in America.” quote by Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a9/stephen-moore-5060_america_for-all-the-obsession-in-washington-and_1210347.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a9/stephen-moore-5060_america_for-all-the-obsession-in-washington-and_1210347.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a9/stephen-moore-5060_america_for-all-the-obsession-in-washington-and_1210347.jpg) > “For all the obsession in Washington and in college faculty lounges over income inequality, why isn't there more outrage over government policies that exacerbate the problem? There are hundreds of programs that make the poor poorer and increase poverty in America.” [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote questions the mismatch between public concern over income inequality and the lack of outrage toward policies that worsen it, highlighting systemic factors that keep poverty high. **In simple terms:** People focus on inequality but ignore harmful policies. Key Takeaway Question policies that deepen poverty. Themes inequality policy public outrage poverty government systems Mood critical concerned analytical Type political social commentary When to use this quote - policy analysis - activism - legislative reform - public debate - media coverage Key Concepts Economic justice political economy systemic bias Questions to Reflect On - What policies most directly increase poverty? - How can public discourse shift to hold policymakers accountable? A Different Perspective Many may argue that outrage exists but is less visible; systemic inertia can blunt response. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Income inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income-inequality/) [Increase Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase-poverty-2569764/) [Make Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-poor-936395/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Outrage Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outrage-government-3665139/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Poverty America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty-america-290821/) [Poverty in america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty-in-america/) ## Related quotes > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The greatest poverty in America today is time poverty. People have money, but they don't have time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/the-greatest-poverty-in-america-today-is-time-poverty-people-have/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [...Poverty in America today leads not only to anxiety, unhappiness, discomfort and a lack of material goods. It leads to death. Poverty in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/poverty-in-america-today-leads-not-only-to-anxiety-unhappiness/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Wages never seem to go up. The whole economy feels stuck, and millions of Americans, millions of Americans, middle-class security is now just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/wages-never-seem-to-go-up-the-whole-economy-feels-stuck-and-millions/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [I have always been really troubled by the amount of poverty in America. Americans are matched in their rich democracy with the depth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-have-always-been-really-troubled-by-the-amount-of-poverty-in/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Social Security is meant to be - to make sure that no one who's worked hard, and played by the rules, and paid into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-christie/social-security-is-meant-to-be-to-make-sure-that-no-one-who-s-worked/) [Chris Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-christie/) > [There are more than 300,000 families in the Gulf region that lost their homes and are waiting for peace of mind. The hurricane exposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-connick-jr/there-are-more-than-300-000-families-in-the-gulf-region-that-lost/) [Harry Connick, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-connick-jr/) > [My parents were nonmaterialistic. They believed that money without knowledge was worthless, that education tempered with religion was the way to climb out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/my-parents-were-nonmaterialistic-they-believed-that-money-without/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [“Andrew Young, a former U.S. Congressman and U.N. ambassador turned Wal-Mart spokesman, seemed to offer an explanation: “Poverty in America,” he said, “is market…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ruppel-shell/andrew-young-a-former-u-s-congressman-and-u-n-ambassador-turned-wal/) [Ellen Ruppel Shell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ruppel-shell/) > [“One of the great ironies of climate change activism today is that many of the movement’s most vocal proponents are also horrified by global…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/one-of-the-great-ironies-of-climate-change-activism-today-is-that/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [“During his first year in office, Congress did just that, passing legislation that changed the formulas governing eligibility and payouts for certain means-tested entitlements.7…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-forman-jr-2/during-his-first-year-in-office-congress-did-just-that-passing/) [James Forman Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-forman-jr-2/) > [Private enterprise is not as spectacular nor as easy to see as the socialist way of temporarily diffusing poverty by eating up the seed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-c-hoiles/private-enterprise-is-not-as-spectacular-nor-as-easy-to-see-as-the/) [Raymond C. Hoiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-c-hoiles/) > [While we fight poverty in the Gulf, we also have to fight poverty across America. We should begin by returning to a promise once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edward/while-we-fight-poverty-in-the-gulf-we-also-have-to-fight-poverty/) [John Edward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edward/) > [The poverty we see in America is now too widespread, and too complex, for easy fixes. But I do think we can reimagine many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-abramsky/the-poverty-we-see-in-america-is-now-too-widespread-and-too-complex/) [Sasha Abramsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-abramsky/) > [“If you don't understand the principles of giving, money will make you poor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/if-you-don-t-understand-the-principles-of-giving-money-will-make-you/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) ## More by Stephen Moore > [It turns out the businessman knows more about how the economy really works than the chattering class. 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What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/one-of-trump-s-reforms-is-to-limit-the-time-that-workers-can-use-on/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [Whenever there is an international crisis - an earthquake, a flood, a war - Americans provide more assistance than the people of any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/whenever-there-is-an-international-crisis-an-earthquake-a-flood-a-war/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [If the Left really wants to preserve family structure and advance cultural values such as work, why do they oppose reforms to a welfare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/if-the-left-really-wants-to-preserve-family-structure-and-advance/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [The truth is Mr. Trump could simply sit in the Oval Office for four years like a potted plant, and that would be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/the-truth-is-mr-trump-could-simply-sit-in-the-oval-office-for-four/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [One of President Reagan's first and wisest initiatives was to effectively shutdown the anti-trust division of the Justice Department.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/one-of-president-reagan-s-first-and-wisest-initiatives-was-to/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [Stacks of job-killing Executive Orders and regulations from the Obama era need to be repealed or rolled back. At the top of the stack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/stacks-of-job-killing-executive-orders-and-regulations-from-the-obama/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [The single best time to invest is at a young age because the dollar in the market today will likely be worth 10 to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/the-single-best-time-to-invest-is-at-a-young-age-because-the-dollar/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [The big problem for atomic energy is that it can't compete on price with the new age of cheap shale gas and, to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/the-big-problem-for-atomic-energy-is-that-it-can-t-compete-on-price/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [The elimination of deductibility of state and local taxes will also encourage more privatization of municipal services.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/the-elimination-of-deductibility-of-state-and-local-taxes-will-also/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [Donald Trump is producing the kind of shoot-the-moon economic recovery that we last saw under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. He's copied a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/donald-trump-is-producing-the-kind-of-shoot-the-moon-economic/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [My father built a small business from scratch with years and years of sweat equity and many, many weeks away from home. He employed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/my-father-built-a-small-business-from-scratch-with-years-and-years-of/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) [Explore all 103 Stephen Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? 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