The data: Poverty, health, children and soldiers

(Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, The Washington Post, National Poverty Center, Childstats. gov, Kaiser Family Foundation, American Dental Association, Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America)

Children living in poverty:

6.1 million Hispanic children
5 million black children
4.4 million non-Hispanic white children

15.5 million of America's 74.2 million children now live in poverty

35% of all Hispanic children
39% of all black children
12% of all non-Hispanic white children

22% of America's children now live in poverty

Poverty level = $22,113 household income for a family of four

9% of America's children now live in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of poverty level or $11,000  household income for a family of four

It is estimated that over 10% of America's children, 7.4 million, do not have access to private health insurance or public health plan coverage.

Dental care coverage in public health programs is inadequately funded, dentists are in short supply in urban and rural areas, and 1/3 of public water supplies are not flouridated. I could not find an accurate number, but thousands if not millions of America's children do not have access to oral health care.

"Food Deserts," areas with limited access to nutritious and affordable food, most acutely affect the health of children. Affordable, dependable transportation to and from full-service grocery stores is the biggest barrier to low-income families living in urban, suburban and rural areas. Single parents who are disproportionately low-income spend less time preparing nutritious meals because of the pressures of work schedules and longer travel times to grocery stores. It's hard to calculate, but the USDA estimates that as many as 6.5 million children live in "food deserts." Obesity, diabetes and other indicators of poor nutrition and health are common, even among children, in these underserved communities.

Our healthcare system is becoming more dysfunctional, not less. Many aren't sure if President Obama's Affordable Care Act will help or hurt. I hope it helps, but it's so confusing, I just don't know. I'm of mixed mind. But it's apparent that more people, more children, are slipping out of health security, overall costs and out-of-pocket expenses are rising exponentially, and our health outcomes are being outpaced by most other industrial countries. At the same time, among the more affluent, there is overuse of medication and unnecessary medical procedures. This drives up costs for everyone and skews where healthcare dollars go. We cannot have a prosperous future if this is not fixed.

Our troops coming home from a decade of war are preyed upon by charlatans, like too many of the for-profit colleges, pay-as-you-go car dealers, etc. Their unemployment rate is over 12%, higher than the national average of 9%. So many are dealing with physical and/or brain injuries. They are making tough transitions into civilian life or non-combat roles if they stay in the military and trying to strengthen their relationships and marriages. Way too many are slipping into poverty. I think we underestimate the impact on their children, both short-term and long-term. This, too, is unacceptable for those who have served their country with courage and great sacrifice.

Growing poverty, the existence of food deserts, a dysfunctional healthcare system, soldiers with uncertain futures. All symptoms of deep, systemic problems. 

When it comes down to it our economy is not providing enough good-paying jobs for the overall population. There are growing swaths of the unemployed and underemployed in all regions, urban, suburban and rural. In all demographic groups and all socioeconomic levels. In a market economy, if there aren't enough customers with a paycheck, businesses like grocery stores and professionals like doctors and dentists will be few and far between. Steady decline in manufacturing, anemic public investment in infrastructure, veritable shutdown of the construction industry, shrinking of the service, hospitality and retail industries, dramatic shift away from the traditional 9-5 workplace. This means fewer jobs, strained communities, stressed parents and children put at risk.

Public schools (traditional and charter) are preparing children more to take standardized tests instead of fully preparing them for a fast-changing, global economy where resourcefulness, ingenuity and flexibility are required skills. Low-income parents who worry about their children's health and welfare are anxious and stressed. And so are their children. It affects their ability to learn, thrive and simply be happy and joyful. 

But our politicians, our elected representatives, are arguing about minutia and stuck in their disparate ideologies instead of facing these social and economic realities, working together honestly and openly to serve the people, especially our children. 

In the public sector, no public program, no charity, no "treating the symptoms" --based purely on heart and transformed into cumbersome bureaucracy---will completely address our core problems. No market economy---based purely on competition and freedom--will either. It will take both in dynamic balance with one another. Our elected leaders need to be held accountable by the American people to show more statesmanship----wisdom in the management of public affairs---and more elasticity in establishing public policy priorities to ensure a sustainable, results-oriented public sector. Our private sector needs to be held accountable by the American people for its responsibilities to the greater good. Not just by how many checks they write to charity, but by the quality and quantity of jobs they provide and how they treat their employees and their employees' families.

Both public and private sectors are too focused on the short term and give short shrift to the long term. Too focused on protecting their turf, whether it's public programs or market share. But our economic and societal problems cannot be fixed by this current leadership mindset. It's hurting our children most. And they are our future.

Our public and private leaders can no longer get away with this. But we've let them do it. So it is now up to us, citizens and constituents, employees and parents, to turn it around so that we and our children are served well by both.