Edwards' afterword

In the afterword of a new book, presidential candidate John Edwards lays out his own moon shot: Ending poverty in America in 30 years.

Edwards is one of three editors of "Ending Poverty in America," a compilation of essays published through The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.

His own contribution is fairly short — just 10 pages in a 288-page book. But it includes a number of policy proposals, based on the previous chapters:

* Support unions. "With strong unions, service jobs can be the foundation of the middle class, as manufacturing jobs once were," he writes.

* Expand housing vouchers. "Vouchers — rather than housing projects built in low-income areas — allow families to escape to safe communities with good schools," he writes.

* End the "marriage penalty." "To strengthen families, we should address the marriage penalty that still hits many poor workers with a massive tax increase if they choose to get married," he writes.

Edwards also proposes raising the minimum wage, increasing spending on community colleges, opposing predatory lending, making freshman year free for college students with part-time jobs and targeting teen pregnancy.