Wes Clark has a three-part strategy for giving American families the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty and into opportunity. This strategy includes:

1. Creating jobs and getting the economy growing again. The best anti-poverty program is a job. Wes Clark has a job creation plan that will recapture money from President Bush's tax cuts for the rich-families making over $200,000 annually-and use it to create jobs. In addition, Wes Clark's strategy of fiscal discipline, investing in priorities like education and healthcare, and unleashing the power and ingenuity of America's entrepreneurial spirit will contribute to a growing economy and declining poverty.
2. Making work pay. Wes Clark will raise the minimum wage in steps to $7 per hour by 2007 and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to ensure that lower-income families are rewarded for their work. This increase will be enough to pay for a year of groceries for a full-time, minimum-wage worker and his or her family. In addition, Wes Clark will work towards equal pay for women.
3. Promote a comprehensive approach to empowering Americans. Wes Clark's proposals-including extending health insurance to the most vulnerable families, making preschool and child health insurance universal and helping families afford transportation, childcare, and housing-form a comprehensive plan to make work pay.