• Mike Huckabee has strongly reiterated that good and
actual leadership is the one which recognizes the after-affect of
political decisions on the man on the street like the waiter who
waits at the tables, the man who collects the garbage, the driver
of the truck and the laborer who shifts freight.
 
• Discussing about the First Amendment, Mike Huckabee is
of the opinion that the main intention of the Amendment was to
encourage the voices of faith instead of being prohibitive and
restrictive. He has stated that although the First Amendment is
often used illegitimately to shut out the voices of faith, the
expression of faith does not come under the Government's
jurisdiction or responsibility.
 
• Mike Huckabee has expressed support for continuation of
the TANF, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families which is a
state-based program to eradicate poverty. This stand has won him
appreciation of a number of state Governors who hold the opinion
that maintenance of flexibility and funding levels are crucial
for the success of the program.
 
• The reason for supporting TANF grants to states,
according to Mike Huckabee, is that it is due to these grants
that a large number of individuals have sought employment,
families have become self sufficient and there has been a rise in
personal responsibility.

• Mike Huckabee has proposed to increase the funding for
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program so that more number of
low-income households can be provided with energy efficient
improvements and adequate heating and cooling assistance.   
		

• During his campaign in 2008, Barack Obama voiced a firm
commitment to reduce poverty by announcing that it is through the
conjoined efforts of everyone involved that poverty could be
reduced to half its actual figure during the next ten years. 

• Assigning poverty the status of being a national
priority, Barack Obama has supported the introduction of a new
Federal measure of poverty which is supposed to be more accurate
and helpful in tackling its after-effects on the following
generations. Hence, the modern guidelines of federal poverty are
meant to reflect the costs of living and study the various
sources due to which the American families face economic
pressure.

• In order to translate his statements to reality, Barack
Obama outlined a plan consisting of various proposals in a bid to
fight rural poverty. Some of the salient points of his proposals
were development of telecommunication technology in rural
America, improving the infrastructure by investing in water and
sewer system and building small city airports.

• In his urban poverty program, Obama vowed to create
twenty dream neighborhoods in various cities across the country
based on the lines of the Harlem Children's Zone in New York
City.

• The urban poverty program has also been designed by
Obama to fight concentrated poverty in American cities by
creating more economic opportunities, recruiting more teachers
and making the profession of teaching attractive by augmenting
the salary and providing support services. 

• A noteworthy proposal made by Obama in the direction of
reducing urban poverty was the creation of 'Affordable Housing
Trust Fund' as a result of which 112,000 new affordable units
would be added in the mixed income neighborhood.