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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDoing for the Poor and Doing to the Poor
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/24372-doing-for-the-poor-and-doing-to-the-poorU.S. Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin speaking at the 2014 CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland. Conservatives like Ryan have argued that cutting support for low-income people will provide incentive for them to have a higher-income. (Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr)
Washington is full of well-meaning types who want to help the poor. The list of prospective helpers includes not only the standard liberal do-gooder types talking about programs like pre-K education, but also conservatives like Paul Ryan who argue that taking away food stamps and other benefits will give low-income people the motivation they need to go out and get a job.
While sincere efforts to help the poor should be encouraged, we should also realize that our current economic policies are doing much to harm the poor. First and foremost we should realize that the decision to maintain high rates of unemployment is having a devastating impact on the well-being of millions of low and moderate income workers and their children.
The reasons are straightforward. When the overall unemployment rate goes up, the rate for the less-educated and minorities rises even more. This has been a regular pattern in the data for many decades that has been very visible in the current downturn.
Before the recession the overall unemployment rate was at 4.5 percent. It peaked at 10.0 percent in the fall of 2009 before gradually falling back to its current 6.3 percent. By contrast, the unemployment rate for workers without high school degrees rose from just over 7.0 percent in the months before the recession to a peak of more than 15.0 percent in peak months in 2009 and 2010. This is an increase of 8.0 percentage points. The unemployment rate for blacks rose from just over 8.0 percent before the recession to a peak of more than 16.0 percent, also a rise of 8.0 percentage points.
kg4jxt
(30 posts)The poor have no economic power - the government of today cannot hear their plight. I think the electorate has become self-centered and each demographic is looking out for itself, but that does not mean people are bad -- they simply lack leadership. Pundits are so well directed to their respective demographics that it is harder for an effective leader to overcome the multiple voices, but sooner or later I think a strong voice will emerge to say: " the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness depend on economic power and therefore we the people must guarantee a measure of economic power to all our fellows - a guaranteed income". If we can figure out how to make this a workable program despite that the first beneficiaries are sometimes-unpopular minority groups, we can assure the future wellbeing of all people - because in another 15 years almost NOBODY will have jobs; they will be done by robots and other automated systems.