Poverty is about to return as a major campaign issue. The Associated Press reported Monday that demographers expect the poverty rate to jump nearly two points to 15 percent, the largest single-year increase since the government began keeping track. The new figure will be released next week and is expected to show about 45 million Americans were living in poverty last year. That this is happening under the most liberal president ever is worth noting. It’s axiomatic among liberals that Republican policies — specifically the push for lower taxes and less government spending — create poverty. This does not square with the historical record.

The previous record for a single-year increase in the poverty level occurred in 1980, under President Carter. His successor, President Reagan, was routinely accused of inducing poverty by cutting taxes and domestic spending. For instance, a common liberal trope in that era — still kept alive by some — was to blame homelessness on Reagan’s unwillingness to prosecute alleged violations of the Community Reinvestment Act. The reality, however, is that personal income grew by 8.1 percent under Reagan and that the poverty rate reached an all-time low by the time he left office.