FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- There's nothing Deidre Duffy would rather do than host a backyard barbecue for a few friends. "I don't want anything fancy,...

The safety net worked. While official poverty rates -- which exclude much of the value of the safety net -- increased from 12.5 percent to 15 percent, 2007-11, the alternative measure, though higher at a point in time (accurately measured, there are more poor people than the official measure reveals), was essentially unchanged. That's right -- the deepest recession since the Great Depression and poverty didn't go up, at least not when you measure it correctly. I'm not saying we don't have work to do when it comes to a functional, efficient government sector... there's a whole lot to improve. But folks really need to look at these issues with open eyes, minds, and non-jerking knees. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Over the last few weeks, we observed both the Democratic and Republican conventions. It was easy to absorb the difference between the two parties. One was dedicated to fighting for the middle-class and poor of this country, the other for millionaires and billionaires.

The United States has proven over several decades to be more tolerant of poverty and of homelessness and other associated ills than is the case in other industrialized countries.

By the Reagan era, the "culture of poverty" had become a cornerstone of conservative ideology: poverty was caused, not by low wages or a lack of jobs, but by bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles.

In an ideal world, families, churches, and volunteer organizations -- exemplifying the idea that we Americans take care of our own without relying on government -- would be the safety net. But this isn't an ideal world.

The 2012 election will provide an opportunity for us to revisit the moral and religious values that have come to comprise the soul of America.

Poverty rates rose in 2010 under a variety of poverty measures, as the economic downturn continued and long-term unemployment hit record highs.