Saturday, November 12, 2011

Broken bootstraps

A Washington Post-ABC News poll reveals what we have all sensed, that most Americans are increasingly concerned about the growing gap between rich and poor in this country. The issue quickly divides along partisan lines, as do so many, with liberals urging government to do more to reduce this gap and conservatives opposing such measures. (Overall, when you include independents, a significant majority does favor government action.)

But on an issue even more significant than income inequality, there appears to be agreement with both conservatives and liberals: the importance of social mobility. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) accurately noted that “upward mobility from the bottom is the basis of the American promise.”

Some believe we are still doing fine. In his address to the Heritage Foundation last month, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) declared, “Class is not a fixed designation in this country. We are an upwardly mobile society with a lot of movement between income groups.” Ryan contrasted social mobility in the United States with that in Europe, where “top-heavy welfare states have replaced the traditional aristocracies, and masses of the long-term unemployed are locked into the new lower class.”

But Ryan is wrong.

In fact, over the past decade, growing evidence shows conclusively that social mobility has stalled in this country. Time Magazine asked, “Can You Still Move Up in America?” The answer, citing a series of academic studies was, “NO...not as much as you could in the past and not as much as you can in Europe.”

In other words, you have a better chance of moving upward in income and class in one of those European "socialist" countries.

The most comprehensive comparative study, done last year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, found that “upward mobility from the bottom” was significantly lower in the United States than in most major European countries, including Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Another study, by the Institute for the Study of Labor in Germany in 2006, concludes that "the U.S. appears to be exceptional in having less rather than more upward mobility."

A 2010 Economic Mobility Project study found that in almost every respect, the United States has a more rigid socioeconomic class structure than Canada. Sons of fathers in the bottom tenth of earners are more likely to remain in the bottom tenth of earners as adults than are Canadian sons (22 percent vs. 16 percent). And U.S. sons of fathers in the bottom third of earnings distribution are less likely to make it into the top half as adults than are sons of low-earning Canadian fathers.

Surveying all the evidence, Scott Winship, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, concludes in the National Review: “What is clear is that in at least one regard American mobility is exceptional…in our limited upward mobility from the bottom.”

When you think about it, these results should not be so surprising. European countries, perhaps haunted by their past as class-ridden societies, have made serious investments to create equality of opportunity for all. They typically have extremely good childhood health and nutrition programs, and they have far better public education systems than the United States does. As a result, poor children compete on a more equal footing against the rich.

In the United States, however, if you are born into poverty, you are highly likely to have malnutrition, childhood sicknesses, and a bad education. The dirty little secret about the U.S. welfare state is that it spends very little on the poor – who don’t vote much – lavishing attention instead on the middle class.

The result is clear. A student interviewed by Opportunity Nation, a bipartisan group founded to address these issues, put it succinctly, “The ZIP code you’re born in shouldn’t determine your destiny, but too often it does.”

Tackling income inequality is a very difficult challenge. Tax increases on the rich will do relatively little to change the basic trend, which is fueled by globalization, technology and the increasing gains conferred by education. (Getting back to the 1990 levels of income distribution in the United States, for example, would mean hundreds of billions of dollars of redistribution every year, which is exponentially larger than the biggest tax hikes anyone is proposing.)

But we do know how to create social mobility – because we used to do it. In addition, we can learn from those countries that do it so well, particularly in Northern Europe and Canada. The ingredients are obvious: decent health care, nutrition for children, good public education, high-quality infrastructure – including broadband Internet – to connect all regions and all people to market opportunities, and a flexible and competitive free economy. That will get America moving again – and all Americans moving again.



Taken from: The downward path of upward mobility, by Fareed Zakaria

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Are you paying attention?

The GOP made the decision to react to the news of Obama working with NATO to help Libyan revolutionaries fight for their freedom – precipitating Qaddafi’s death – as the small minded, spiteful people that they are. Two Republican senators stepped up to the microphones to express their gratitude to our French and British allies – well deserved by the way – each taking great care to avoid crediting the Obama strategy for any part in this success.

Appearing on Fox, Sen. Graham (R-SC) had this to say when discussing the future of Libya: “We can go over there and help them build their infrastructure up.”

What?! (…I say with my head spinning around…)

On the very day that Senate Republicans – including Graham – voted down a proposal to authorize money that would keep teachers teaching and firefighters ready to fight fires and policemen policing, Graham said that we need to spend taxpayer money to build up Libyan infrastructure.  Graham has a perfect voting record in blocking badly needed infrastructure investment here in the United States, such as repairs to schools and bridges. Yet he declares his enthusiasm for spending a bunch of money to engage in another nation building exercise.

Why? Why is Graham so eager to invest in Libya’s infrastructure while gladly allowing his own nation to crumble in ruin?

The answer is… wait….wait for it…. drum roll… because there is lots of money for the United States to make in building the future in Libya!

Oh, yesssss…you read that right. Senator Graham’s position could not have been expressed any more clearly.

Onward contractors! Onward oil companies!

Who needs to provide American children with an education or rebuild bridges and roads to save American lives when you can use taxpayer money to set things up for the U.S. oil barons to steal huge supplies of oil that belong to the Libyan people? So what if a few folks in Minneapolis fall to their death when the bridge collapses. We are talking billions in profits lying around in the African desert just waiting to be lapped up.

The most important thing to note here is that Republicans want to spend taxpayer cash to make the oil producing investments that they do not want to ask the oil companies to do on their own. Let's use taxpayer money to make millions of dollars for the oil companies and their shareholders.

Now that the French and English (let’s not give Obama any credit here) have succeeded in helping to free the Libyan people, the Libyans must now submit to America’s oil monopoly – or else. There is no surprise in learning that McCain and Graham, along with that DINO, Joe Lieberman – who never met a Muslin nation they do not wish to invade – would respond to being proven strategically wrong by attempting to pretend Obama’s clever plan to bring down Qaddafi never happened. Graham openly and boldly pitched the idea of spending taxpayer money to grab Libya’s oil without so much as saying one word about the importance of having helped the Libyan people achieve their freedom.

Now, I realize that this horrible Republican behavior will never register on the millions of Americans who cannot be bothered with paying attention to the greedy leaders they have chosen to get behind, no matter how shocking their decisions may be. They are too busy watching American Idol.

But to the many Independent voters – the ones who actually decide the elections in this country – I ask:

Are you paying attention to this?