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Poverty spending is up 41% since the start of the Obama administration, according to a recent study by the Cato Institute. The poverty rate remains at 15.1%, which is the same rate it was in 1965, when LBJ declared his “War on Poverty”.

The poverty rate since then has hovered in the 11-15% range since then; the only time it fell below 11% was a short time in the 1970s. In FY2008, federal anti-poverty spending totaled $475 billion dollars. For FY2011, spending was $668 billion in 126 anti-poverty programs.

According to Cato,

The study faults the way poverty programs are designed, saying that the increase in spending and largely unchanged poverty rate showed that the issue is not a matter of money, but a matter of what the programs aim to achieve.

“The vast majority of current programs are focused on making poverty more comfortable – giv­ing poor people more food, better shelter, health care, and so forth – rather than giving people the tools that will help them escape poverty.”

Instead, the study recommends refocusing anti-poverty efforts on keeping people in school, discouraging out-of-wedlock births, and encouraging people to get a job – even if that job is a low-wage one.

Trillions in debt. Nearly 50% of taxpayers don’t pay federal taxes. Uptick in anti-poverty spending with no tangible results.  What will Obama do next?