“The form of law which I propose would be as follows: In a state which is desirous of being saved from the greatest of all plagues—not faction, but rather distraction—there should exist among the citizens neither extreme poverty nor, again, excessive wealth, for both are productive of great evil . . . Now the legislator should determine what is to be the limit of poverty or of wealth.”
Greek philosopher (427-347 B.C.)
TWO AMERICAS
I'm curious what you think about this. Are we on the verge of a populist uprising that will result in "some moderation in the growth of United States inequality in the next decade," or will things continue along the present path for quite some time?
I will be watching New York and Mayor De Blasio. He has a tale of two cities in New York. He will be faced with the 20,000 homeless children living underground in the city. New York is the perfect example of a two city dilemma. The stock market is at its highest and the poor are getting poorer. Corporate leaders are making obscene salaries while families are struggling to find jobs at minimum wage. The public schools are crumbling while the private school population is growing with the median 12th-grade tuition for the current school year costing $36,970, up from $21,100 in 2001-2, according to the national association’s survey. Nationally, that figure rose to $24,240 from $14,583 a decade ago. Two Americas.
I find myself sad every morning - the NYTimes, Morning Joe, PBS News, etc., etc. My favorite news media and there doesn’t seem to be a blink of sunshine on the table. This is a new feeling for me - I have always been optimistic about how government can work and in many cases, does work. I was part of an Administration in Indiana that made government work and our Governor did so for the old and the young and for the rich and poor. We proposed legislation with bipartisan sponsors. Always bipartisan - that was the only way legislation would be heard and passed.
I think that the republicans in Congress have been effective at preventing any work from being done at the congressional level since 2010, but overall the administration has done an outstanding job of economic stewardship.
The GDP grew at over 4% last quarter, unemployment is down from 10% to 7%, people's 401k's have recovered all the losses that occurred in 2008, deficit growth has been curtailed. President Obama took over a country in the midst of an economic disaster and fixed some of the problems.
These accomplishments are great but they effect the upper set of Americans with substantial incomes. The lower income family does not have 401k’s to draw upon. The 401(k) plan was never meant to be a mainstream pension plan and is a poor substitute for one. It’s a voluntary program that was intended to supplement retirement savings.
I see some light with the recent congressional passage of a budget deal as a major step away from the obstructionism of the Republicans over the past recent years. It looks like the grown-ups are asserting themselves finally.
During my time in Indiana’s Statehouse President Clinton introduced Welfare Reform and it became law. In 1996, Congress enacted welfare reform legislation that included three main elements, the most important being the work requirement. As a result of this reform, welfare caseloads dropped by half and employment rates among welfare recipients soared.
My colleagues at the Children’s Defense Fund stepped away from the President, a long time friend and ally to their programs for children, saying he lost his empathy for the poor. Hillary, too who was very involved with the Children’s Defense Fund also suffered rebuke by her colleagues around the country. Why welfare reform - it is cruel - how could it help the people we wanted to help - that was the repeated question for a long while.
I was at the table with counties and cities as we tried to create a fair and equitable welfare reform block grant approach. My belief has always been that the best welfare program was a job and the best social service provider was a parent. When a family sits down at the dinner table and parents ask their children - what did you do today - children can ask what their parents did and they could hear, we went to work. That too is a valuable program - that job regardless how small gave mom and dad a feeling of self respect and dignity. What better lesson to offer a child.
That philosophy remains - a job is the best welfare program and a parent is the best social service provider. But, it is fine to say people must go to work . But where are the jobs? How can a young man begin to support his children when the available jobs are at minimum wage - an issue stymied in Congress. And can a parent provide food and shelter for that child at minimum wage? I don’t think so. The food stamp program (Special Needs Assistance Program) is also stymied in Congress. Once again, two Americas.
I think we understand that the economic crisis and the deep recession weren’t created overnight and won’t be solved overnight. The economic security of the middle class has been under attack for decades. President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act – nearly all of which is made up of ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and that Congress could pass right away to get the economy moving now. Put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans. And it would do so without adding a dime to the deficit.
The Act is waiting. It isn’t moving forward. It, too, is stymied in Congress. Partisanship, ideology, the birther faction, the Tea Party movement fighting more taxes and support for entitlements - fighting any way they can - even shutting down the government. These are strong adversaries for restoring some equality for Americans.
The issue of long term unemployment is not a new issue. The economy has recovered and there are still people who had jobs before and don't now. Typewriter repairmen can no longer find work, just like those who groomed horses and collected droppings from the streets became unemployed in New York with the advent of the automobile. We are making a transition away from a heavy manufacturing economy and there are people who's skills don't match the needs of employers.
Government can't really change these fundamentals. People can learn new careers at a subsidized rate. (community college is still approximately $3500/year and fully covered by Stafford loans) but people can't be forced to learn new skills. Unfortunately, many of the current unemployed are in their 50’s and learning new skills is a daunting challenge. A critical component of any employment program is Job training - look at different states and cities in the country, talk to the communities and start to rebuild supply and demand for new skills. Make investments in building this new workforce.
The issue with unemployment benefits is a complicated one. Unemployment benefits are distinct from conventional assistance as they have always been designed to be self supporting. They are not welfare, you pay into a system when employed and withdraw when unemployed. The issue of what to do when your money is exhausted is a difficult one. For how long should a person receive extraordinary benefits? Should unemployment be a tax based system? These are valid questions. And, Congress is refusing to support even a three month extension. Perhaps they don't know the premise of unemployment benefits. Once again, the two Americas.
All the situations mentioned in this message are complicated. We have movement in some directions, spearheaded by the President and supported in some part by Congress. On the other hand, we have resistance to any change to make these years better for the people. Once again, the two Americas.
My experience has been at the state level. The states are the producers of results. They have always been the engine of ideas and the laboratories for innovation. The states are increasing the minimum wage. The states are doing workforce development. We had challenges in Indiana. We needed to make difficult choices. We made them. With the other side of the Senate chambers, with respect for differences. There was ideology but not to threaten those of us who were more moderate in our beliefs.
It worked because we understood our role as the people’s servant. That is lost - how it lost its way, I am not sure. What I do know is that it takes a strong leader with outstanding skills and conviction of his beliefs. Perhaps we have this leader - perhaps we don’t. We have until 2016 to find out.
