Sen. Rubio: Time to Rethink 'War on Poverty'

The White House is marking the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "war on poverty."

Johnson launched the effort in 1964, but Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said it is time to re-think the country's failed programs.

Rubio will deliver a speech on Capitol Hill Wednesday, outlining an aggressive agenda.

In a video preview, Rubio said, "After 50 years, isn't it time to declare big government's war on poverty a failure?"

Are government programs the solution to poverty? Terry Jeffrey, CNS News editor-in-chief, talks about this and more, on CBN Newswatch, Jan. 8.

"Instead of continuing to borrow and spend trillions of dollars on government programs that don't work, what our nation needs is a real agenda that helps people acquire the skills they need to lift themselves out of poverty and to pursue the American dream," he said. "This agenda would create an economy with more good paying middle class jobs and a government with less debt."

Rubio will outline his plan in the coming weeks.

The president's Council of Economic Advisers released a progress report on the war on poverty that covers the past five decades.

In it, the White House said poverty has dropped from nearly 26 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012. It also said government programs are responsible for the progress.

This 50th anniversary comes as President Barack Obama pushes to extend unemployment benefits and increase minimum wage.