The State Of Our Union Can Be Better

By Tim Shriver

As you prepare to watch the State of the Union tonight, I thought you might enjoy this important piece by Jamie Price on SargentShriver.org. Almost all of the recent conversations about fighting poverty have focused on incomes and entitlements and have missed the great policy innovations of the 60’s that focused on empowerment and opportunity and business-government-not for profit partnerships. Empowerment worked (think Head Start, Job Corps, Upward Bound, Legal Services) and still does. We need more of it.

And I’m not only proud of my Dad who pioneered empowerment government but also of my sister Maria’s Shriver Report which is changing the national conversation about poverty and forcing a rethink of what it means to believe in justice and equality and a fair chance for women and men. Tonight, the President is sure to note her work and highlight Sabrina Jenkins from Maria’s report who represents millions of women on the brink. Thanks to Maria, they’re finding their voice and fighting back. Download her report and fight for simple changes like sick days and a fair wage.

And equally importantly, my brother Mark is in the fight too, raising his voice for children. He’s organizing a community of activists for a stronger children’s state of the union who will fight and be relentless. Join Mark and children and their cause and Click here to take action now! Children don’t have lobbying power or voting blocks to protect them. But we can.

Our nation can do better for those who work hard and deserve a fair opportunity to succeed. Thank goodness we have Mark and Maria and Jamie and so many others who are fighting to make sure it does.

My friend, the late Daniel Thompson, wrote that we need people who know they are “a loud” to fight for fairness. My dad was a loud, Maria is a loud, Mark is a loud, Jamie is a loud, and Sabrina is a loud too. Don’t be deceived by spelling; find your voice and be a loud too!

-T