I asked questions that had specific answers. It’s been a little while since I did the math but generally there are about 35 million people considered “below the poverty line”. How poor these people actually are is a matter of some debate but for this discussion there’s not much point in discussing that. Let’s say on average it would take $10,000 per year per person to get them up to the poverty line. Again, probably somewhat generous but again, it’s not going to matter much so no point arguing about it.
So, with a simple bit of multiplication: 35 million people * $10,000/person = 350,000,000,000 = $350 billion.
Now, how much does the US government spend? A: total federal state and local is estimate at $9.3 trillion. Or 9,300 billion.
In other words: The US government spends more than 26 times what it would take to eliminate poverty. Or, if you prefer, the US government could eliminate poverty with 3.7% of what it spends.
Conclusion: the US government is not about ending poverty.