From Reagan to Trump: Rethinking Poverty Solutions in America

Ever since Ronald Reagan gave his “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964, conservative politicians have wandered further and further away from engaging the issue of poverty. However, Reagan’s “do a little arithmetic” point about how much was spent on fighting poverty versus how much it never really ended poverty still pencils out.

President Donald Trump shocked the GOP establishment when he went into poverty-stricken Detroit in 2016 and, borrowing a Reagan line, asked residents, “Are you better off now?” after years of voting for Democrats who made lots of promises to the poor and whose policies just seemed to cement poverty in America.

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Eight years later, in the 2024 elections as a result of that question, black and Latino support for Trump and the GOP grew to record levels. But has the effort to bring free-market, liberty-based solutions to poverty in America grown to match?

The Daily Signal sat down with Ed Kornegay and Ehi Aimiuwu from the Illinois Policy Institute’s Center for Poverty Solutions to hear about the success that they have had in Chicago with such ideas—success that can be exported to places like Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville, Washington, D.C., or any major city in the country.

Listen to our conversation: