Obama: People Who Read Ayn Rand ‘Think Everybody Is a Moocher’

"That’s just not true. First of all, just in absolute terms. The poverty rate when you take into account tax and transfer programs has been reduced about 40 percent since 1967. Now, that does not lessen our concern about communities where poverty remains crime. It does suggest, though, that we have been able to lessen poverty when we decide we want to do something about it. In every low-income community around the country, there are programs that work to provide ladders of opportunity to young people."