In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there has been widespread concern that the local residents of New Orleans and other affected communities be an integral part of any and all reconstruction efforts in the Gulf Coast region. In order to embrace a similar approach in addressing deep and persistent U.S. poverty brought to light by Katrina, the Marguerite Casey Foundation commissioned a comprehensive study looking at attitudes of Americans, particularly those of low-income families, before and after Hurricane Katrina. The Foundation hopes this study, entitled "Different Incomes, Common Dreams," will provoke continuing debate on one of America's most pressing issues - economic disparities and large numbers of Americans living in poverty - as well as to increase the breadth of voices involved in that debate. According to the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the study involved one of the largest and most inclusive nationwide surveys ever conducted, examining the attitudes, hopes, fears and dreams of nearly 2,000 American families living on both ends of the economic spectrum and all points in between. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between December 9 2004, and February 12 2005, and by Lake Snell Perry Mermin/Decision Research between September 30 2005 and October 3 2005. The survey indicates that even after Katrina, Americans across all incomes levels share many of the same hopes and aspirations for the future. However, most Americans agree that the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen, with 97 percent of survey respondents believing there is a gap between the rich and the poor and 79 percent believing that gap is very big. Approximately 90 percent of respondents realized that poverty is a problem in America today and a majority supported a broad range of long-term investments to help reduce poverty, such as increased wages, health insurance, education, job training and tax credits. Among the top causes of poverty cited by respondents were a minimum wage that is too low, cuts in benefits, too many part-time jobs, and jobs being exported to other countries. This is yet another piece of evidence that the Bush administration's and Congress' current priorities are completely out of touch with the concerns and priorities of the American people. With Congress bent on making even larger cuts this fall to programs supporting the type of long-term investments the majority of Americans currently support, they are not only promoting a radical philosophy that ignores the tremendous need in our country, but also continuing to gradually erode what may be the only security and supports for millions of American families living in poverty and struggling everyday just to get by.