What would you ask for?

Ehhhh, maybe, hard for me to criticize that, our President doesn't always go to the airport to meet foreign dignitaries. The President arrived in a low key way, his call.  They did have a pretty good ceremony today, pomp, bands, and lots of photo ops.  Guess we will see what comes of it.  Think that the arresting of the protestors was a bad move on the part of the Cuban government.

Gary

The current president goes out of his way to antagonize our allies and jump in bed with our enemies. That should give any thinking adult a difficult moment. Castro (either or both) are poisonous, toxic, totalitarian terrorists that seek only person power and profit.
Obama seems to gravitate towards towards these types, because, I believe, he desperately wants to be one.

Now, how do we break the cycle of poverty?

Stop all forms of assistance/welfare to able bodied adults and see how fast (after the riots) people 'discover' they can do the jobs liberals constantly claim that no one will do.

Why would electing Cruz suddenly get the two sides to speak to each other? Ted Cruz is not known for his ability to bring people together.

Neither was Reagan, but he did get some communication working, where the current jack offs never do much more than lie to us and do whatever the hell they want, anyway. Certainly Hilary would be an evil presence in the white house, and Trump would piss off so many people we would probably end up having to impeach him.

I think you are asking the question all wrong. By you asking that question, I have to assume you are just fine with a percentage of the American populace being poor. I'm guessing you look at it as just the natural order of things. So given this, I have to ask-

• How large should the population of the poor be?

The taxpaying producers shouldn't have to support (provide health care, food by EBT, or otherwise, accommodations, and all the other free stuff to more than about four percent of the population, including those who actually need it, as opposed to those who live off the handouts as a career move. As long as they are not government supported, I don't care how many classify as poor, anymore than i care how many classify as middle class, rich, or super rich. At no point do i include retirees, and/or those collecting SSI for which they contributed for their entire working lives.

• Is there a point at which they become too large?

Once the percentage goes over five, the drag on the economy begins to be felt, as it has for several generations, now.

• What part do the poor play in the bigger American society?

No more than any other demographic. Other than giving rise to the ghettos, and criminal underbelly of America, through robbery, murder - particularly black on black murder and crime, and skyrocketing drug abuse and general mischief.

• Are the poor a help, a hinderance, or do they just not even matter either way?

Jesus said, "the poor shall be with you always." The existence of poor people is not a reflection of anything but the general health, or lack thereof of any society. Out of the ranks of the poor have come great artists, innovators, inventors, doctors, researchers, athletes, and every other kind of success story, just like they do out of the ranks of the middle class and rich.

• Would the country as a whole, be better off if there were much fewer poor, worse off with fewer poor, or it just doesn't matter?

This is a trick question. The poor WILL be with us always. Fewer poor people would mean a healthier and prosperous  country, but liberals are never going to let people rise out of poverty and endanger their power.

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So I believe the better question is, is there a net benefit to the whole of American society if there are fewer poor among us? I believe there is and I believe there is value in trying to achieve this. It's not a responsibility to help poor people move up, it's a project, like building a dam, or a highway. It's for the betterment of all.

You may disagree with me on this, millions around the world do. In many other countries, poverty is just believed to be part of the natural order and little if any effort is given to aiding those born into poverty. I just disagree with this notion.

You might recall that the far right was not too happy with Reagan at the end of his term as they did not feel that he had done enough to push their agenda.

I don't remember anything of the sort. I do remember the centrists (liberal) wing of the party hating all the attention he got and kept them from getting.
I also remember all the liberals running around revising history to attack Reagan for the last twenty years.

Electing either Trump,  Hilary/Bernie will set us back for decades because neither side will even speak to the other and the parasite in the White House will not even notice because they will be too busy reshaping things to suit them (or in the case of Hilary, continue to enrich herself, like her predecessor).

Oh brilliant!! So, she'll just drop the kid off at the free daycare center and go and take her ignorant ass that barely can make a proper sentence, with no skills whatsoever over to all the local employers that will no doubt be thrilled to have her join their working team.

How many ignorant, single moms with poor work habits have you hired? I personally avoid them. Even McDonalds has standards.

This kind of defeatist nonsense is spouted most often by people who desperately want these things to stay that way because it insures future elections. It is a typically liberal response to try to get everyone to throw up their hands and declare things non-fixable, to avoid allowing the poor to become self reliant, and risk losing their unwavering vote.

And they are shaping the minds of our youth, and have been for generations now, at least since the 1970's or so, but more in the past twenty five years.  How can we stop them?

Promote the power of freedom and the toxic poison that has become the academic horde loses much of its appeal. Tell young people about the benefits of hard work and creative work. CELEBRATE achievement, instead of attacking achievers. Ignore the fascist college professors who spend their lives hating successful people out of nothing but jealousy, and attack THEM for their hypocrisy and double standards on everything from illegal immigration to constitutional rights.