Pa$$ the Poverty Plea$e!

Title: Pa$$ the Poverty Plea$e!
Genre: Politics/Social Commentary
Authors: Patty Newman, in collaboration with Joyce Wegner
Illustrator: Unknown
Publisher: Constructive Action, Inc., Whittier, California
Year: 1966
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback, Mass Market
Provenance: 36¢ price sticker affixed to front cover
Chapter Titles: The Greatest "Show" on Earth; Cast of Characters; Pandora's Cap; The Bypass Play; Gobbledygook; Shuffle and Sort; Head Start; The Teenpost Twist; Self Expression in the Job Corps; The Neighborly Thing to Do; Numerical Jungleland; Who Poured the Kerosene?; Watts Flames; Who's Sick?; The Password Is Watts; Who's Angry Now?
Opening Sentence: "'The War on Poverty,' said Senator Gordon Allott, 'has been heralded in a fashion that would make P. T. Barnum's heart leap for joy, were he still alive.'"
Random Passage: "The hourly wage scale for these jobs was originally a hot issue nationally. Union leaders railed at 'social workers' who, they claimed, would set up youth employment programs with low wage scales without seeking labor's views on the matter."
Back Cover Blurb: "Two American mothers bring you this exciting story which will make you gnash your teeth at the facts while you laugh along with their adventures."
Notes: A book-length critique of then-President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs to combat U.S. poverty. The authors cast a skeptical eye on all aspects of the program, presenting the Neighborhood Youth Corps, Head Start and others as wasteful follies which may ironically encourage more poverty in the long run.