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Welfare Pair to the task of inducing actions that were once the prod- uct of spontaneous arrangements." THE HARD QUESTIONS ySolow and Wilson also share something else: namely, a belief that many welfare recipients are so ill-equipped to enter the mainstream workforce, even the best train- ing programs won't reach them. In his Tanner lectures, Solow discussed the sobering results of welfare-to-work projects from the past decade: as many as a third of wel- WiELFARE PAIR fare recipients cannot find and keep jobs that pay enough to support their families. Wilson, drawing on his own previous research, told his audience—mostly By Glenn C. Loury business leaders and conservative policy intellectuals— that the root causes of social disorder are to be found ast spring, Robert M. Solow, the Nobel Prize- early in life. When children do not receive the nurture winning economist from M.I.T., gave one of the that is essential for the development of sound character, prestigious Tanner Lectures on Human Values they are much more likely to get caught up in violent at Princeton University. He spoke about welfare crime, drug addiction, and illegitimacy. Accordingly, he L proposed more intensive pre-school education—"much reform—a topic far from the theoretical research for which he is renowned, but one that is nevertheless more intensive than what typically occurs in Project dear to his heart. A liberal Democrat, Solow pre- Head Start"—including parent training and home visi- dictably lamented that President Clinton had signed tations along with child care. And, Wilson said, the gov- the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity ernment should fund residential programs for Reconciliation Act—the 1996 legislation that ended unmarried teenage mothers who have no competent welfare as a federal entitlement. However, being a no- adult to oversee their handling of the newborn, even nonsense analyst, rather than dwell on this lament, he though the annual cost of such a program might run as went on to ask how the new law might be high as $40,000 per mother. made to work better. Of cotirse, this is not to say the two see Now, several months later, James Q. eye to eye. But, connecting their respec- Wilson of UCLA, perhaps the most influen- tive lines of thought is the common tial political scientist of his generation, is insight that the personal resources, job asking the same question. A conservative skills, and child-rearing capacities of a siz- Republican, Wilson was more sympathetic able minority of welfare recipients are to the welfare reform effort. However, he, severely limited. As a result, even after sev- too, is gravely concerned: he fears we are not doing eral years of support, the perfectly foreseeable conse- enough to promote the well-being of poor children. In quence of leaving many of these mothers and their early December, Wilson delivered the prestigious Boyer children on their own is that we will produce a humani- Lecture to a black-tie gathering in Washington, D.C., tarian disaster. hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, under the I came to the same conclusion myself on a recent visit title, "Two Nations." He spoke about policies that could to an educational program for welfare mothers in the help forestall a transformation of the United States into New York City area. The program's offices are in a grim what Benjamin Disraeli, speaking of Victorian England, public housing project overlooking the Hudson River; called "two nations, between whom there is no inter- the entrance door is pocked with bullet holes. Ostensi- course and no sympathy." bly, the program helps local welfare mothers earn their Their political differences notwithstanding, these two high school equivalency certificates by preparing them eminent social scientists are making weighty arguments for an exam that requires reading and math skills at that point in the same direction. And it's a direction dif- roughly the tenth-grade level. While the women are in ferent from the one in which our policymakers are class, the program provides high-quality day care for going now. Solow and Wilson both believe that effective their children, some of whom are just a few months old. anti-poverty policy means spending more, not less, but I asked the dozen or so participants with whom I spoke spending it more wisely than we have in the past. Solow what they expected to be doing two years hence. Each believes the new law's work requirements (adults must said she'd be holding down a good-payingjob thanks to go to work within two years of first receiving benefits) the equivalency certificate. Yet, the social worker direct- need the "purposeful creation of jobs, in numbers, ing the program confided in me that, based on her ex- places and forms that are suitable for .the people who perience over the past six years, only a small minority— will fill them." Wilson, concerned about impaired child maybe as few as one in five—would ever pass the exam. development, argues that policymakers should concen- So impaired is their cognitive and emotional develop- trate on rebuilding the family. "If, as is now the case, ment, she said, and so chaotic are their lives, that most of how [children] are raised is left to overwhelmed the women, even those who truly apply themselves, are women or institutional arrangements [then] the only unlikely to attain tenth-grade skill levels. way we can restore the balance is by committing money But success can be measured in more than one way. JANUARY 5 & 12,1998 THE NEW REPUBLIC 9 The more important objective of the program, the A1996 poll by the magazine Asian Weekionnd 72 percent director told me, is to give children a better chance. of Asians in support of a balanced budget amendment She recounted horror stories: a visit to a client's home and 63 percent favoring a reduction in the size of "all finds a baby strapped into a stroller in front of a flicker- government agencies." Second, many Asians—especially ing television screen in an otherwise empty room; a tod- immigrants from Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan— dler arrives with language skills so dramatically delayed responded positively to the GOP's anti-communism. as to suggest the virtual absence of verbal stimulation But, by the mid-1990s, anti-communism didn't matter during infancy. Violent boyfriends, bouts of homeless- much anymore. And the Republican Party fatefuUy ness, unplanned pregnancies, and batdes with addic- waded into the politics of immigration, first with Propo- tion impede the mothers' progress. The director's sition 187 in 1994, and then with the welfare reform bill bottom line: "It's all over by three. Either we reach two years later. Asian views on immigration, like Latino these children early, or we can forget it." views, proved the political equivalent of quicksand: cam- For a decade, the core idea of welfare reform has ouflaged enough to lure the GOP in, and powerful been that nobody should get a free ride—recipients enough to suck them under. Polling data show that should work in return for their benefits. This is a sound both Asians and Latinos are hostile to open borders— principle, politically and morally. But it is not sufficient which makes sense considering that immigration proba- to guide policy in this area. There are recipients who bly depresses their wages more than those of whites. But will be unable to live up to their part of the bargain. Asians and Latinos also see attacks on newcomers as And there are children whose dim prospects are given fueling racism that damages them as well. In short, insufficient weight in the calculus of reciprocity. Fortu- Asians, like Latinos, are dubious about the value of nately, the wisest thinking, on both the left and the immigration yet devoted to the rights of immigrants. right, recognizes that we have unfinished business on Proposition 187 and the welfare bill—which didn't the welfare front. Now, if only our politicians could change policy on the border but denied immigrants muster the vision and the will to act. • education, health, and old-age benefits—played that nuance exacdy wrong, and spurred many angry Asians to naturalize, register, and vote. By the time Bob Dole took on Bill Clinton in 1996, the GOP's lead among How the GOP lost Asian America. Asians was down from 27 points to around five. A poll of first-dme Asian American voters in California showed Clinton winning a majority. Document Three: Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the Democratic National Commitee's "harass- ment" of Asian Americans. In 1996, as we all know, the Clintonites seized on the newfound Asian affinity for TiHE LEE ROUT Democrats to fill their campaign coffers. Asians gave generously to the president, and their increased influ- By Peter Beinart ence became a political coming-out party of sorts. Many expected Clinton to appoint the nation's first Asian ay what you want about the merits of BiU Lan.n American Cabinet member as a show of gratitude. Lee's appointment as Acting Assistant Attorney It did not work out that way. After the John Huang General for Civil Rights. But politically, it's a story broke, many Asians felt overwhelmed by the ensu- S rout, a turkey shoot, a massacre. Years from now, ing anti-Asian pulDlicity and betrayed by the president in political consultants wintering at the Kennedy School of their hour of need. In particular, Asians were stunned Government will teach it for credit. It's not hard to when the DNC hired the accounting firm of Ernst imagine the question on the final exam: "Based on the & Young to cold-call as many as 1,200 Asian donors to assembled documents, explain how the Republican the Democratic Party.
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