Makes Sense to Me

Sometimes when I get bored, I like to read candidate web pages. I think it's interesting to try to go straight to the source. I like comparing their design, their tone, their policies. It's much better than playing solitaire or minesweeper. The other day I was reading through Barack Obama's page and I found this:

Improve Transportation Access to Jobs: Three quarters of welfare recipients live in areas that are poorly served by public transportation and low-income workers spend up to 36 percent (!!!) of their incomes on transportation. As president, Barack Obama will work to eliminate transportation disparities. Obama will double the federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program to ensure that additional federal public transportation dollars flow to the highest-need communities and that urban planning initiatives take this aspect of transportation policy into account.

I thought what a great idea! It seems like such a simple, practical solution to a very large problem. Decrease poverty by making an easy, reliable way for people get to work. This solution came to mind again when I read the story "Exiled to A War Zone, for His Own Safety" in the New York Times. From the article "his manager called from the mall to fire him, saying he had had too many late arrivals and absences. Augustus tried to protest that his commute from Park Hill depended on two capricious bus lines, but it was no use."