Politics & Power Quote by Marian Wright Edelman

Edelman’s line is a deliberate refusal of America’s favorite alibi: scarcity. By declaring “We do not have a money problem,” she strips away the comforting technocratic story that poverty, underfunded schools, or weak safety nets are unfortunate byproducts of limited resources. The pivot is the point. “We have a values and priorities problem” turns budget debates into moral self-portraits, insisting that spending is an ethics document, not a math exercise.

The subtext is accusation, but it’s also strategy. Edelman is speaking from the tradition of child advocacy and civil rights organizing, where “not enough” is often a way of saying “not them.” Her framing exposes how “fiscal responsibility” can function as a rhetorical mask for political choices: prisons over prevention, tax cuts over childcare, symbolism over outcomes. It’s harder to argue against an asserted shortage than it is to defend a revealed preference.

The sentence works because it’s built like a trapdoor. You think you’re entering a policy argument and you land in a values argument. “America” is the subject, not Congress, not a party, not an administration. That broadened target is intentional: it indicts a culture that treats certain lives as negotiable line items. In an era when leaders claim empathy while commissioning austerity, Edelman’s bluntness forces an uncomfortable inventory: if the money exists, who exactly are we choosing not to save?