President Donald Trump’s “Executive Order on Reducing Poverty in America” has produced the expected political reactions. Because it focuses on saving taxpayer money and strengthening work requirements for federal programs, many conservatives are celebrating it, while many progressives have attacked it as punitive and dehumanizing.
As it turns out, it’s a lot more interesting and subtle than either side has seen — and potentially more constructive.
As one of its “Principles of Economic Mobility,” the executive order emphasizes the importance of helping five groups that struggle to find employment — single parents, the formerly incarcerated, the homeless, substance abusers and “disconnected youth.