In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson first launched Head Start. Intended to be a cornerstone program of his War on Poverty, Johnson said, "Five- and 6-year-old children are inheritors of poverty's curse, and not its creators. Unless we act, these children will pass it on to the next generation, like a family birthmark. I believe that this is one of the constructive, and one of the most sensible, and also one of the most exciting programs that this nation has ever undertaken."

In the ensuing 50 years, more than 32 million children have benefited from Head Start.

In the face of dour news about stagnant wages, rising inequality, and a vanishing middle class, metropolitan areas are raising local minimum wages, experimenting with new apprenticeship programs, and considering a range of other development tools to tackle their workforce challenges. Collectively, these strategies represent crucial steps to boost incomes and improve economic mobility during the recovery. In the same way, infrastructure investment is supporting more and better jobs throughout the country, drawing from a variety of efforts across the public and private sector.

However, the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fair Share, a national grassroots advocacy group, today spoke out against riders to the congressional spending bill as “outrageous assaults on the financial security of American families and the integrity of our democracy.”

One rider would reverse crucial reforms in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, ultimately endangering taxpayers who would get stuck with the bailout if and when banks fail.