FDR, Madison Square Garden, 31 October 1936 For twelve years this Nation was afflicted with hear- nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing Government. The Nation looked to Government but the Government looked away. Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Nine crazy years at the ticker and three long years in the bread- lines! Nine mad years of mirage and three long years of despair! Powerful influences strive today to re- store that kind of government with its doctrine that that Government is best which is most indifferent. For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up. We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace: business New Progressive Voices Values and Policies for the 21st Century

a project of the progressive ideas network

Edited by James Lardner, Dēmos Coordinated by Nathaniel Loewentheil, Roosevelt Institution preface

Ideas hold the unique potential to unify and empower today’s progressive movement, bringing together our leaders, grassroots Stephanie Robinson, Esq. advocates, communications networks and supporters around shared values. Recognizing this, leaders of progressive think tanks is President and CEO of The Jamestown Project, a and activist organizations from across the country convened in December 2007. We gathered to look beyond the short-term national think tank focusing interests of our individual institutions in order to envision how, together, we could work more effectively on behalf of our com- on democracy. She is a Lec- mon goals. We emerged with a commitment to form an alliance – the Progressive Ideas Network – that would provide opportuni- turer on Law at Harvard Law ties for collaboration and coordinated action, offer service and training to its members, and create a forum for crafting long-term School and former Chief strategies and ideas. Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Robinson is a The members of the Progressive Ideas Network believe in the possibilities for bold, transformational change in American society, nationally recognized expert on issues relating to social and our business is to generate the ideas and policies needed to create that change. Our organizations contain hundreds of policy, women, race, family, original thinkers in progressive politics, and our networks reach thousands of talented activists who fight every day for the rights and electoral politics. She and well-being of millions of Americans. We have come together at this auspicious moment to lay out a course for genuine prog- was featured as one of the ress in the government and governance of this country and all its people. 30 Young Leaders of the Fu- ture in Ebony Magazine and The essays in “New Progressive Voices: Values and Policy for the 21st Century” present three elements of change: long-term was profiled in the book As I Am: Young African American vision, fundamental values and prescriptions for immediate action. The nine leaders who authored these essays speak for and Women in a Critical Age. with the unheard voices in our society, and the ideas contained here are born out of service to them. We call for all Americans to build tomorrow’s society together, with creativity, wisdom, morality, ethics, and love – and with no more hidden costs, to us or Barry Kendall, PhD, to our children. is Executive Director of the Commonweal Institute, a We would like to thank all of the people who made this project possible. The steering committee members dedicated count- think tank focused on build- less hours to creating a vision and direction for the project. Special thanks are owed to Deepak Bhargava, Jim Harkness, Larry ing the progressive move- ment through effective idea Mishel, Miles Rapoport and Andrea Batista Schlesinger; Seth Borgos played an especially important role in this process. Our marketing and coordinated editor, Jim Lardner, worked with dedication, patience, and incredible editorial skill, complemented by our designer, Caitlin How- action. Holding a doctorate arth. Finally, Nate Loewentheil organized and coordinated the many people and elements involved in producing this work. from Stanford University, Dr. Kendall is an expert on the As we all look toward the November election, with its potential to mark the start of a new progressive era in the United States, role of religion in American we offer these ideas to you. We invite you to share your responses at www.newprogressivevoices.com, and to contribute your culture and politics. Dr. Kendall is a member of the ideas for positive change. We’re looking forward to the years of shared conversation, decision-making, hard work, and true prog- Bay Area Advisory Board of ress that lie before us. the New Leaders Council, and an Advisor to Netroots Stephanie Robinson, Esq. Barry Kendall, Ph.D. Nation. President and CEO, The Jamestown Project Executive Director, Commonweal Institute Co-Chairs, Progressive Ideas Network contents

Introduction 2

Looking Ahead Building Shared Prosperity 8 Investing in Our Future 12

Realizing Our Values Capturing Democracy’s Surge 18 Upholding Community Values 22 Rejoining the World 26

Taking Action Health Care for America 32 An Inclusive Green Economy 36 The Promise of Opportunity 40 A Strengthened Middle Class 44

The Progressive Ideas Network 49 Introduction Deepak Bhargava and Nathaniel Loewentheil The Progressive Ideas Network America stands at a pivotal moment. A long and painful episode in our national story is near- ing an end; a new and more promising chapter is about to open. is an alliance of multi-issue think Conservative politicians and ideologues, and their financial backers, have commanded the stage for decades. Through action and inaction, they have propelled our country toward tanks and activist or- crisis on multiple fronts. From energy and climate to poverty and inequality to race and ganizations working immigration and the role of the United States in the world, we inherit huge, interrelated problems, problems that call for a collective response on an unprecedented scale. At such together to amplify a critical moment, there are at last promising signs that the political tide is shifting. But no the power of ideas election – not even the most sharply defined presidential contest in memory - can be more than a first step: Neither the weakening grip of conservative ideology nor a new regime in in advancing today’s Washington will produce the kind of wholesale change that our country so badly needs. progressive move- At critical times in the past, progressives have stepped forward with bold visions and poli- ment. Its mission is cies that transformed American politics, culture, and society. The progressive era, the New to provide opportu- Deal, the civil rights revolution, and the Great Society all came about through a combination of grassroots activism, visionary thinking, and political leadership. In each case, the impetus nities for collective for change and many of the big transformative ideas originated with progressive organiza- action, offer service tions and leaders operating outside the channels of mainstream politics. and training to its In recent decades, progressivism has faltered. It was conservatives who developed and members, and create moved the big ideas, while progressives triangulated, tweaked, and tinkered. Since the 1960s, progressives have been running on the fumes of the New Deal and Great Society, confining a forum for crafting themselves largely to narrow issue silos and poll-tested phrases and positions. Content to long-term strategies play defense in many of the major political battles of the day, they have all too often been cowed into submission by the vitality and confidence of the other side. and ideas. Together, we’re building a pol- Now that is changing. Instead of obsessing about what we are against, progressives have begun to think about what we’re for - to prepare once again to play our role as agents of icy infrastructure to bold ideas and political and social transformation. Finding new confidence and imagination, power a new era in we have begun to renew our intellectual capital. The essays in this volume draw on that new store of capital to sketch the outlines of a progressive agenda for 21st-century America. progressive politics. The authors cover a wide array of topics, and, in their policy recommendations, present a 5 few conflicting ideas. But all these Yet the authors are also united in and the world we hope to achieve, to be worried at this critical mo- essays reflect a belief in the need their recognition that profound a vision that energizes our ideas ment in human history; we’ll need for fundamental change. The prob- change cannot be ordered from and builds the political will for a rare combination of ideas, action, lems discussed here cannot be on high. It won’t happen without meaningful change. resolve and leadership to meet solved, the authors agree, through courageous and farsighted political the challenges that lie before us. charity, volunteerism, or even by leadership; but that kind of leader- Optimism is another recurring These essays provide very good well-meaning local and state gov- ship won’t happen without political theme. In our greatest challenges, reason to be hopeful. ernments, though surely all have a pressure – and creative thinking these authors see the greatest role. Individually and cumulatively, – from below and outside Wash- of opportunities. Climate change ington. And both, history tells us, brings with it a renewed focus on are more likely to come from the We have renewed margins than from the center of collective action our intellectual established political discourse. It is no coincidence that a good from the margins capital and are many of the authors are women or people of color, and many are seizing opportunity prepared to resume relatively young. In that respect, our role as agents of they reflect the future of the our connection to the earth and We would like to thank the progressive movement, which will underscores the unmistakable following foundations for bold, transformative be bolstered by the coming-of- fact of humankind’s shared fate. age of the Millennial generation Technological progress promises their generous support of the change. and find its strength in the grow- increased interconnection and Progressive Ideas Network: ing diversity of our nation. Many potentially paradigm-shifting in- of the organizations represented novations. Poverty and inequality Wallace Global Fund the essays make the case for the here are young themselves - part are social realities, not inevitable Nathan Cummings kind of concerted action that can of a burgeoning set of progressive outcomes of globalization: a new come only through the agency of institutions founded in reaction to social contract is possible. We Foundation our national government. People the center-right politics of recent can make enormous progress in Open Society Institute have lost sight of the power of years. the short term — by empowering Marguerite Casey good government; we need pro- workers, creating green jobs and Foundation grams that serve our national The essays follow a parallel struc- fostering opportunity, for example needs and encourage faith in our ture. Each begins with broad — while rebuilding public confi- We would also like to extend public institutions, creating a posi- principals and proceeds to more dence in a role for government tive cycle of political change and specific proposals. That format, and collective action. a special thanks to the A.H. space for further reform. too, reflects a belief shared by all Zeppa Family Foundation the authors: our policy ideas must Our optimism is central to our vi- for making New Progressive be linked to a picture of the nation sion. There are many good reasons Voices possible.

Political America has become a land of short-term thinking. It doesn’t plan far in advance, and it doesn’t look far behind; public debate largely ignores both the lessons of history and the glaring realities of the future. We can choose to lay blame at the feet of any number of causes: our increasingly short attention-spans, the media coverage that plays to it, or the political pandering that preys on it. The fact remains that we must all act to correct it.

The first step is to simply start looking ahead. Farther ahead than the next news cycle, the next election or even the next administration. The world is accelerating— the rate of change only increases every day—and we can’t know the future. But we can start preparing for it. Any good plan begins with knowing our own val- ues and goals; we must have a serious discussion about what we wish to see in the world, on how our economy and our government best serve our soci- ety. We can begin by shaping the intellectual and political landscape, the frameworks and key policies, to serve the real needs of our families and businesses in the future.

In the essays that follow, the authors lay out powerful visions that require significant changes not only to our policies but in our per- spectives. The essay from the Economic Policy Institute describes an economy of shared prosperity that puts the interest of all citizens first. The Roosevelt Institution encourages investment in our shared future through renewed emphasis on critical pub- lic goods. To move from here to there will require not only government action but moral leadership and widespread debate. But change is possible—we must look no further than ourselves. looking ahead move into higher-paid and more rewarding jobs. The stress of constant financial worry among the majority stifles innovation and technological Building Shared Prosperity progress. In an economy that relies heavily on consumer spending, the Lawrence Mishel and Nancy Cleeland shortage of disposable income makes a bad situation worse.

For the better part of three decades, our country has been stuck on a Our leaders used to understand the danger. “The welfare of each of us single, simplistic idea about the economy: less government equals more is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us,” said a Repub- prosperity. American leaders have sought to create a marketplace unfet- lican president, Theodore Roosevelt, at a time not unlike our own, when tered by rules and regulations. Let people fend for themselves, they the rich had been getting ever-richer while workers struggled with low said, and innovation and entrepreneurship will flourish, the economy pay, unsafe conditions, and the ever-present dread of falling off a finan- will grow as never before, and the benefits will eventually lift the for- cial cliff. tunes of all. Bit by bit, against fierce opposition, the reformers of Teddy Roosevelt’s That was the promise. We have seen – and lived - the reality. From 1989 day succeeded in enacting an early set of consumer and worker protec- to 2006, the highest-earning ten percent of U.S. households collected tions. But it took additional decades and a Great Depression before the country was ready to put solid over 90 percent of the nation’s income gains. Today the top 1 percent of Corporate executives American families receives 23 percent of all personal income, up from legal weight behind the ideal just 10 percent in 1979. Corporate executives earn 275 times as much as of shared welfare. That hap- earn 275 times as much average workers, compared with 27 times in 1973. pened when another Roosevelt - Teddy’s Democratic fifth cousin as average workers, compared with 27 times It’s been a fine time to be a CEO or a hedge fund manager, in other - pushed through the landmark words. But the great majority of Americans are less secure and hope- legislation that we remember as in 1973. ful than they were a generation ago. Jobs are disappearing. Real family the New Deal. incomes are falling. Retirement security is a fading ideal. Health care is becoming a privilege rather than an expectation. In the struggle to keep From the 1940s into the 1970s, leaders of both parties carried on the up with expenses (or avoid falling too far behind), Americans are work- effort to promote broad-based economic security and opportunity. ing longer hours, borrowing more, and living closer to the financial edge. Although not all racial and ethnic groups benefited equally, the laws and programs that became the postwar social contract helped tens of mil- By degrees, the United States has become a more economically un- lions of Americans enter a middle class that was the envy of the world. equal country than at any time since the 1920s, and the most unequal of all of the world’s developed nations today. By that measure, in fact, Then came the harsh ideology (concealed in the sunny rhetoric) of the we are drifting away from the relatively egalitarian pattern of Western “Reagan Revolution.” Since the early 1980s, Reagan and his heirs have Europe and the Pacific Rim countries – toward the orbit of Russia and hacked away at FDR’s legacy. Years of deregulation, de-unionization, Latin America. skewed tax policies, and lax enforcement of worker protections have tipped the scales in favor of corporate and financial insiders, and against This is not a safe path. Extreme inequality hobbles mobility, leaving poor the great majority of American workers and families. Those same poli- and working-class Americans and their children with little chance to cies have fed waves of financial speculation. In one of the most recent

sharedprosperity 9

and destructive of these episodes, millions of Americans were talked Authors into booby-trapped mortgages. Many now face the threat of losing their homes; others stand to lose much of their home-equity wealth. Lawrence Mishel is President of the Economic Policy Institute, where he’s Clearly, the economy will be the first order of business for the new worked since 1987. As EPI’s first re- leaders who take office in January 2009. Just as clearly, the old answers search director, then vice president – the familiar mix of tax cuts and fiscal and monetary tinkering – will no and now president, he has played a longer do. But America needs more than a new set of economic policies; significant role in building EPI’s re- we need a new purpose for economic policy. search capabilities and reputation. A nationally recognized economist, he has researched, written, and The mission before us is to build an economy of shared prosperity. That spoken widely on the economy and will mean taking steps to reduce economic insecurity and give Ameri- economic policy as it affects middle- cans a chance to breathe easier and plan for the future without dread. and low-income families. He is prin- Another key piece of a shared-prosperity agenda (discussed in the cipal author of a major research vol- essay that follows) is public investment in our crumbling infrastructure, ume, The State of Working America in education, and in job creation. Finally, we must shape a new brand (published every even-numbered of globalization that serves ordinary people in exporting and importing year since 1988), which provides a countries alike. comprehensive overview of the U.S. labor market and living standards. Most Americans grasp the need for bold action. Polls show a wide- spread recognition that the current economic model is not sustainable. Nancy Cleeland has been External Affairs Director at EPI since early But while the old mythology has failed disastrously on the ground, it 2008. She is a Pulitzer Prize winning still echoes powerfully in Washington and other centers of influential journalist with an extensive back- opinion; the push for an agenda of shared prosperity promises to be a ground in labor, immigration and mighty struggle. But the outcome will be worth struggling for: a world of international trade. During a decade less stress, more opportunity, greater mobility, more fairness, and re- at the Los Angeles Times, she cov- newed confidence. ered major labor disputes, including a port shutdown and several region- And there is every reason to expect that an economy of shared pros- al strikes, and exposed harsh condi- perity will be a stronger economy, too. “We have always known that tions faced by immigrant workers. The stress of heedless self-interest was bad morals,” said Franklin Roosevelt, looking She was a lead writer on a 2004 se- out on the damage wrought by the laissez-faire policies and corporate ries about Wal-Mart’s labor policies and sourcing practices that won the financial worry excesses of the 1920s. “We know now that it is bad economics.” Pulitzer, Polk and other prestigious stifles innovation awards. Earlier, she specialized in We knew it then, and we know it now. This time, America must not forget. coverage of the U.S.-Mexico border and technological and Latin America, including a 3-year progress. stint as a Mexico City bureau chief.

sharedprosperity Prosperity Ideas This double dose of risk is bad news for the overall economy as Addressing Key Roots of well as the individuals involved. Economic Insecurity But there are ways to rebuild sta- Skyrocketing health care costs bility into these two important fea- are hurting U.S. businesses as well tures of life. The Health Care for as families and individuals. The America Plan, detailed elsewhere current system denies access to in this book, combines employer- some 45 million Americans while provided health insurance with pushing costs higher than those a set of public plans to cover all in comparable countries. Employ- Americans, at a net savings to na- ers faced with these rising costs tional health spending. It reduces are cutting benefits or passing on costs for responsible employers costs to their workers, who are and puts all businesses on a level increasingly foregoing health insur- playing field. ance altogether. Medical bills now A fix to retirement insecurity is account for half of all bankrupt- also within reach. First, it should cies. be recognized that Social Security, Retirement has also become always designed as a supplement increasingly risky for Americans, to retirement, is fully-funded for de- who can no longer count on the cades to come. Raising the earnings pension plans that were once a cap – now set at a low $102,000 standard employment benefit. – so that top-earners contribute a Today, a shrinking number of fair share would eliminate shortfalls employers provide any sort of down the line. The system was retirement plan, and those who do originally intended to draw reve- overwhelmingly favor personal ac- nues from 90 percent of all wages; counts such as 401(k)s, which are that ratio should be restored. managed by employees and often In addition, a plan known as the require matching contributions. Guaranteed Retirement Account would be funded by employer and “The welfare of each Financially, the baby boomers are (GRA), authored by economist worker contributions with a guar- ill-prepared for retirement: more Teresa Ghilarducci of the New anteed payout after retirement. of us is dependent than one-third of those 55 and School University and released The new system would cut tax fundamentally upon older have less than $25,000 in by the Economic Policy Institute, subsidies that mainly benefit the savings, and a growing number are would augment Social Security very rich in order to provide the the welfare of all of dipping into retirement accounts payments so that all Americans retirement contributions for low- us.” to fund routine expenses. can retire in dignity. The accounts income workers. -Theodore Roosevelt

sharedprosperity 11 Investing in Competitiveness while improving the environment members earn 14 percent more on exports. Changes in technology From the nation’s earliest years, by promoting jobs in the area of average than non-members and and economic policy have facili- federal infrastructure projects — in renewable energy. Having a com- are far likelier to have a pension tated the movement of jobs off- such things as highways, railroads, prehensive green job strategy plan and health insurance. shore, and now some 50 percent electricity and water systems — involves not only doing the work, The federal government also of all manufacturing production of have helped fuel economic growth but ensuring that the components has an important role in this area. U.S.-based companies is located while improving the quality of life used to generate energy from the The Labor Department must in foreign countries. As outsourc- for all. But such investments have wind, the sun and other alternative return to vigorously enforcing and ing expands, globalization’s losers been woefully inadequate for sources are made domestically. improving the laws that govern extend well beyond the least- years. The American Society of With the right policies, the United wages, hours, overtime premi- educated and unskilled. The idea Civil Engineers estimates it would States can have a revitalized ums and occupational health and that trade’s negative impacts could take $1.6 trillion over five years to manufacturing sector that brings safety. The minimum wage should be reversed with job training and bring the nation’s bridges, dams, with it good jobs, rapid innovation be raised to match half the aver- education clearly has not been sewer systems and other infra- and environmental sustainability. age wage (as it once was) and borne out. structure up to good condition. maintained at that level. A serious response to these Schools are also badly in need of Reconnecting More fundamental, we as a trends must begin with public public investment for repairs and Pay and Productivity nation should set a goal of full investment at home– supporting maintenance. And we must invest Productivity has risen 20 per- employment, which in itself will education, job assistance and in- money in broadband build out, cent since 2000, and yet most empower workers. It is no coinci- novation. Meanwhile, we should so that all parts of the nation can benefits of that economic growth dence that income grew and pov- declare a strategic pause in trade participate in technology-related have gone to the very rich, while erty rates fell across all population agreements, and insist that any productivity growth. typical workers’ incomes have groups in the late 1990s, when a future agreements include provi- In addition to improving public stagnated or declined. The grow- roaring economy created millions sions for enforceable labor rights. health and safety, these projects ing disparities reflect the declin- of jobs and briefly drove unem- Another key step is to enforce cur- have the added benefits of stimu- ing power of workers to demand ployment rates down to historic rent trade policies and to eliminate lating the weakening economy and their fair share of growth. There lows. perverse tax incentives that favor creating millions of good jobs. For are a number of practical steps to overseas investments, and con- example, a $20 billion investment in restore the necessary economic Trade and Prosperity: sider instituting value-added taxes school repairs would generate an balance between employers and Home and Abroad that favor exports over imports, estimated 250,000 jobs. To make employees. American workers are losing as other nations do. Finally, we the most of this approach, we must One is to restore the ability ground in the global marketplace, should promote a more stable and ensure that all jobs associated with of workers to freely join unions where corporate interests have equitable global financial system. this public spending offer fair pay by passing the Employee Free trumped all others in rulemaking and benefits and policies that allow Choice Act (EFCA), which permits for international trade. The United “We have always known that for work/life balance. unionization if a majority of work- States has shed 7 million jobs tied heedless self-interest was bad We can also rebuild the nation’s ers sign union cards. The benefits to trade since the late 1970s, when morals. We know now that it is important manufacturing base of union membership are clear: imports began to grow faster than bad economics.” - FDR

sharedprosperity things the market cannot provide, things that secure our shared economic future: our children’s education and our physical infrastructure. Today, Investing in Our Future infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP has decreased nearly fifty Nathaniel Loewentheil and Vera Eidelman percent since its peak. Education spending as a percentage of GDP has remained stagnant since 1969, while research and development funding Americans have always expected life to be better for the next generation. has declined by half in the same time period. But now, according to recent polls, they no longer do. Let’s take pause: For the majority of Americans, the past is brighter than the future. The Through a self-reinforcing set of public attitudes and government ac- American dream is becoming an American memory. tions, we’ve largely abandoned our intergenerational responsibilities. The most important distinction isn’t between public and private spending. It’s This pessimism reflects an alarming trend: as a country, we have stopped between short-term and long-term thinking. We don’t need to cut our investing our resources in a shared future. In previous eras, a vision of a spending; we need to invest more and more wisely. shared future united the country around great national initiatives. In the mid-1800s, federal legislation spurred the railroad boom, opening the The decline in national investments come at a precarious moment as the country to a growing population. In the 1930s the Tennessee Valley Au- United States engages an increasingly competitive global economy. The thority permanently transformed an entire region, creating a completely country lost 3.3 million manufacturing jobs in the last ten years and trade new set of industries and opening a new way of life for millions. In the imbalances are equally disheartening. Even in areas of strength, the Unites decades following the Great Depression and World War II, encouraged States lags behind; we have become a net importer of high-technology by our victories over great forces, we made even greater investments. products. Our national debt—the world’s largest—is set to grow to almost Through legislation like the GI Bill and the early Highway Acts, we mani- $15 trillion in the next decade. Meanwhile, the economic growth rates of fested a sense of collective power and interdependence not matched developing countries like China and India are nearly three times that of before or after. In the 1950s and 1960s, federal infrastructure investment the U.S. peaked at almost two percent of GDP; at the same time, we spent seven percent of our economic output on education and two percent on re- The engines of the 21st century economy will be made of the most refined search and development. The results proved the power of public invest- materials, built by the strongest tools. America once had both: a fiercely ment—in the decades that followed, the U.S. enjoyed one of the most competitive school system and the strongest industrial infrastructure remarkable periods of economic growth in world history. in the world. Today, the situation is different. Many of our high school students never graduate, and too few of those who do are adequately But then a strange myth took hold, propagated by conservative think- prepared for college level courses. Meanwhile, socioeconomic and racial ers and politicians, that all private spending was wise and productive, all inequalities remain staggering. When it comes to infrastructure, the situ- public spending foolish and wasteful. Beginning in the 1970s the federal ation is equally grim; the American Society of Civil Engineers gives our government began deregulating industries, lowering taxes and abandon- current infrastructure a failing grade and estimates that it would cost $1.6 ing public investments in favor of the inviolable invisible hand. For the trillion to bring our system back into good condition. last thirty years, as conservatives are quick to point out, the economy has continued to grow. The market has provided private goods in abundance— Global competition. Investment gaps. Debt. There are reasons for serious as many cars and televisions as we could ask for. But without the hand of concern. But as Franklin Roosevelt recognized at a time of far greater un- government and provision for public goods, we have fallen behind on the certainty, fear remains our greatest threat. Throughout the 20th century,

futureinvestment 13 America stepped forward to confront the world’s greatest challenges and Teaming Together to Improve K-12 Schools succeeded. The current historical moment is one of great opportunity. If we meet it with a positive vision of the future, a plan for how to get there Creating a 21st century education system constitutes an enormous un- and the faith and will to invest in ourselves, we will succeed. dertaking. It means investing capital in our schools and the materials necessary to equip them, increasing access to technology and broadband, Next is a set of proposals that will push our economy forward. Conserva- developing more intelligent funding and taxation structures, and substan- tives will argue that our country cannot afford public investments, but our tively revising our curricula. Furthermore, to significantly improve educa- short-term thinking is far more costly. Substantial investments in funda- tional outcomes for low-income students, we must face up to systemic mental public goods—education and infrastructure—sustain a healthy free- poverty and the impact it has on the lives of students inside and outside market system. A 21st century economy requires a world-class education of class. system, an infrastructure that encourages sustainable development and innovation, and a country committed to its own future. But our investments will go only as far as the quality of teaching can take them. Teachers have proven time and again to be the most important in- school factor controlling educational outcomes. Our country needs a 21st century teaching corps supported by the best ideas and resources we have to offer, one able to recruit our brightest to serve.

Young people are ready. Programs like Teach for America have proven that many high-performing college graduates are eager to teach. This new generation of educators can redefine education if we can keep them teaching. More than twenty percent of teachers leave within three years of entering, just as they become significantly more effective, while retirees account for less than one in six teacher departures. Each lost teacher costs schools approximately $50,000 in administration and training; the total annual cost of teacher departure nationwide is estimated at $4.9 bil- lion. This does not include the cost of decreased educational outcomes, which may be up to three times as high.

Authors Nathaniel Loewentheil hails proudly from Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated cum laude from Yale University in 2007, majoring in the Program in Ethics, Poli- tics and Economics with distinction. In early 2005, while in his sophomore year, he helped found the Roosevelt Institution and now serves as executive direc- tor. Nathaniel serves on the advisory board of the New Leaders Council and the Drum Major Institute’s Young Scholars Program.

Vera Eidelman, born in St. Petersburg, Russia and raised in Columbia, MD, is a senior at Stanford University majoring in Economics and Sociology. Her policy interests include international trade and the role of art in development. She has worked with several artist-activists in the Baltimore area and has conducted research on the efficacy of art in protest at Stanford, as well as the role of performing arts programs in prison. This summer, she served as an Academy Fellow at the Roosevelt Institution, where, in addition to working on this essay, she also researched trade adjustment assistance programs.

futureinvestment Investment Ideas universities and K-12 schools, in 150 Ongoing Public Education tives. We propose expanding that school districts. The success of the Less than a third of today’s system to automatically enroll The first step toward building NTP program depends on careful American workforce holds a col- graduating seniors in community the teaching corps of the future planning and thoughtful training, lege degree. Yet, according to college, leaving open the choice to is to better train and retain young and legislators must make provi- the Bureau of Labor Statistics, enter the workforce, a private insti- teachers. Mentorship programs are sions for careful implementation forty-two percent of new jobs tution or a four-year public program one important approach with good of TEAM, the total cost of which this decade will require one; less instead. models already in place. For exam- would be $150 to $200 million. than three in ten did in 2000. We Such a system seems unobtain- ple, through the University of Cali- However, by allowing for some flex- believe that all Americans deserve able by today’s standards. But our fornia at Santa Cruz’s New Teacher ibility in the 150 pilot programs, we an education that will prepare standards today are outdated—we Program (NTP) experienced educa- could encourage the replication of them for a successful career, and must redefine our conception of tors from around the country train best practices at a national scale (if more and more of those careers education for the new century. with professionals and then serve and when TEAM results match or will require more than a high school Ongoing public education will not as mentors for new teachers over exceed those of existing programs). education. It is our responsibility to require the costly construction the course of two years. the pro- As young people, we have seen provide ongoing education. gram costs only $6,500 per men- first-hand the role that support To significantly increase educa- tored teacher. Research has shown networks play in our peers’ career tional attainment, we must re-orient that the program has boosted choices. Passionate as they may our education system. Private col- morale, increased retention rates to be to enter the teaching profes- leges and state universities serve ninety-five percent, and significantly sion, recent graduates are anxious slightly more than half of those open improved educational outcomes. and inexperienced. Mentorship pursuing bachelor degrees and do This kind of mentorship program programs provide much needed so at an extremely high per-student should be expanded. We propose guidance and support. They are the cost. While we can and must of thousands of new community a national Teacher Education and most effective short-term way to reduce these costs, expanding this colleges. Many classes will be held Mentorship (TEAM) initiative. The increase young teacher retention system on a large scale is not eco- early in the mornings and later in Teacher Education and Mentorship and thus serve as the crucial first nomically feasible. We must instead the evenings; we can take advan- initiative would provide funding step towards increasing educa- create a system for universal ongo- tage of existing institutions like to grow and replicate programs tional outcomes while decreasing ing public education that builds libraries, community centers, and like NTP, which would encourage unnecessary costs. off of and expands our community public schools themselves. Instruc- collaboration between regional college structure. tion does not require intensive one- We envision a system in which on-one classroom time. New stud- entrance into community college is ies have found that well-designed the standard course for high school online learning modules can yield graduates. Today, our system auto- powerful results; the best courses matically enrolls eighth graders in were found to improve test scores public high schools, while leaving in half the standard course time open private or charter alterna- when combined with limited class-

futureinvestment 15 room instruction. Combined with Rethinking Infrastructure cle-miles-traveled fee to be paid improve the speed and reliability other innovations, like open-source Public investments in infrastruc- by private vehicle users. A tax of of buses, and also highlight and textbooks and improved commu- ture drive patterns of development, 1.2 cents/mile would raise as much strengthen their natural advantages nication systems, these new tools transportation and private spend- as the current gas tax revenue—the over cars: they allow users to relax, can change the way we conceive of, ing. In the last century, we invested federal government must set this engage in other activities, and and pay for, ongoing education. in highways and roads, encouraging as a minimum and allow states to socialize. We propose an Ongoing Public the market to create car-depen- make further increases. We propose the establish- Education Network (OPEN) pro- dent systems. The result: less than It will take more than higher ment of a national $1.5 billion Get gram. The Ongoing Public Educa- 5 percent of our workforce uses taxes to get people out of their on the Bus program through the tion Network would strengthen ties mass transit to commute to work cars, though. Because of historical Department of Transportation’s between community colleges and and, taking into account the cost of underinvestment in public trans- Congestion-Reduction Program. high schools while simultaneously road maintenance per driver, bus portation, many buses and met- This program would fund trials in encouraging innovation and experi- riders actually pay more for each ros lack the benefits that attract ten cities to (a) create bus-only mentation in online learning by: mile traveled than do car users. It American consumers; the result is lanes and priority at traffic signals, is becoming increasingly clear that widespread psychological distaste (b) invest in buses with larger, more 1. Creating $250 million in fund- our current transportation patterns of systems that are perceived as comfortable seats, (c) provide free ing incentives for community are economically and environmen- crowded, slow, unreliable and dirty. wireless Internet for riders, and (d) colleges to expand continuity- tally unsustainable. We need to We need to invest in creating com- fund broad advertising programs of-learning programs between reform our policies to impose the fortable, appealing transit systems promoting fresh positive visions high school and college; true cost of driving on drivers while and marketing them as 21st century of bus systems. Cities around the 2. Creating trial programs in 50 simultaneously creating attractive, transportation solutions. world have already been success- school districts to enroll all viable public transportation op- It begins with our buses. Buses ful in similar efforts: London has graduating seniors directly in tions. currently account for more than increased bus ridership by 40 per- fully funded continuing public Drivers today pay less than half 80% of all transit rides. They cent through a bus-priority program education programs, at an as much for each mile traveled provide the flexibility of non-fixed and Chicago is in the first stages of estimated average cost per as they did in 1959; more than 15 routes and can serve existing pat- instituting a similar system. district of $325,800. years have passed since the tax’s terns of development. We need to 3. Providing a $200 million grant last nominal increase and federal to top experts in education highway funding is expected to run and computer science to dry by 2009. The gas tax is not only develop a high-quality, online too low but also indirect. We need curriculum of 50 basic cours- to tax drivers for the true social and es, which could then be dis- economic costs of the pollution tributed free-of-cost directly they cause and the wear and tear to students and throughout they impose on our public road sys- the public community college tem. We recommend replacing the system. indirect gas tax with a direct vehi-

futureinvestment

The foundational beliefs of over poverty and the progressive movement immigration scarcely realizing our values contain compelling intellec- conceal deep-seated community. Less still can we we face in the years to come tual power and moral clarity. prejudices of race and class. abandon the urgent struggle will require the very best our Throughout the last century, Our foreign policy—on agri- to realize a more just and country has to offer, and we the movement cemented culture, trade, and interna- democratic society – not just are at our best only when ev- these ideas in the public tional governance—is narrow, because the struggle is the ery member of society con- consciousness. But reaction- shortsighted and nationalis- right one, but because when tributes meaningfully. Only ary forces fight on. Conserva- tic. The right constantly finds we act on our values, we by creating a just society tive forces maintain power new ways to fight for old build a stronger nation. The at home can we inspire the through Byzantine election fi- injustices. crises world to embrace a shared nance law and a dysfunction- vision of our shared al electoral system. Debates As we confront the chal- world. lenges of the 21st century, we cannot lose sight of the marginalized members of our Americans are struggling mightily today. That should be no surprise. In recent decades, economic policy decisions have consistently favored a Capturing Democracy’s Surge wealthy few, while making life more precarious and volatile for others. Stuart Comstock-Gay and Miles Rapoport Since the early 1980s, after-tax income has increased 176 percent for the highest-earning one percent of Americans; it has gone up just six per- In this extraordinary and groundbreaking election year, old assumptions cent for the bottom fifth. The agenda of a powerful minority has taken about what a presidential candidate had to look like have been retired precedence because of the failure of our democracy. forever. The 2008 campaign would have produced the first female presi- dential nominee of a major party - had it not given us the first African Three parallel trends brought us to this pass: a drop in voter participa- American nominee instead. After the Democrats had made their deci- tion; a simultaneous rise in the influence of money; and a decline in civic sion, the Republicans delivered the second-ever female nominee for engagement generally and confidence in government in particular. Voter Vice President. turnout, which plummeted after Vietnam and Watergate, continued to decline until 2004. In its decline, political participation gradually became But well before anyone had been nominated or elected, democracy it- a mirror of our racial, age, and class divide, with the graphs of income self was the winner. The supposedly “frontloaded” Democratic race was and voting running along almost parallel lines. longer and closer than anyone expected, with hotly contested results far Some citizens have been entirely beyond the usual battlegrounds. More than 58 million Americans voted We won’t get our country in primary contests across the country this year. That’s a 65 percent pushed out of the process. More increase over the previous record of 35 million, set in 1988. Youth voter than five million Americans are right until we get our participation doubled over its 2004 level; in a few states, it rose four- currently without their voting democracy right. fold and more. African Americans voted in numbers that conventional rights as a result of a felony con- wisdom and party insiders had considered impossible. In states where viction – a policy with a greatly people could register and vote on primary day, over 300,000 people disproportionate impact on racial minorities. In some states, 25 percent made use of the opportunity. The number of people contributing to of African American men have been declared ineligible to vote. Restric- political campaigns through the Internet and other small-donor channels tive voter registration deadlines and other barriers have kept countless increased dramatically. So did the number of people working for candi- Americans from taking part. Federal and state governments have failed dates. More than two million people have given money to the Obama to implement the 1993 Motor Voter law, letting millions of poor people campaign this year. Nearly as many are said to have volunteered. go unregistered. Young people have been notoriously disengaged from politics, despite the fact that youth volunteerism doubled between 1989 We should be inspired by the 2008 story – inspired to think hard about and 2005. how to capture the transforming energy of a remarkable political year, and build it into our politics over the long term. That will mean major As voter turnout has declined, the influence of money has become more structural reforms of a kind that have been impossible to achieve up pronounced. At every level, campaigns have become exponentially until now; otherwise, democracy could easily slip back into the shrunk- more expensive, forcing candidates to spend vast amounts of time rais- en and distorted condition that has been the modern norm. ing money and meeting with donors – and leaving them with woefully little time, photo ops aside, for encounters that might help them under- We should be inspired by the 2008 story. stand the concerns of ordinary people. Predictably, many government

revitalizingdemocracy 19 policies have been shown to benefit those wealthy supporters. Our money-infused system hurts everyday Americans, hurts candidates, and Authors hurts American principles of fairness and equality. Many citizens under- standably see our politics as an insiders’ game of money and influence. Stuart Comstock-Gay is Director of the Democracy Program at Dem- Voter participation went into its steep decline in the 1960s. That’s also os. He previously served as Execu- when Americans began to have less overall confidence in government tive Director of the National Voting and the officials who personify it. In recent polling, two-thirds of Ameri- Rights Institute. Prior to joining NVRI cans have expressed distant and disconnected feelings about govern- in 2004, he was the Vice-President ment, which they see as serving special interests over the common in- & C.O.O., and Vice President for terest. Much of that response is the result of a systematic undermining Programs, of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation in Concord, of government by those who fear its potential to play a countervailing NH. He has also been the Executive role to private wealth and power. When conservative strategist Grover Director of the Maryland branch of Norquist promised to shrink government “down to the size where we the American Civil Liberties Union. can drown it in a bathtub,” he expressed what has been the dominant He has spoken and written widely on political ideology of the past three decades. topics related to democracy, foun- dation practices and civil liberties. Our democracy’s deficits have been a major contributor to economic He received his MPA from Harvard’s insecurity and hardship, and a significant factor in the diminished sense Kennedy School of Government. of national confidence that has been a recurring theme of public opinion surveys recently. The administrative nightmares of the 2000 election, Miles Rapoport is President of and some more since, have only exacerbated people’s concerns about Demos. He came to Demos after serving as Executive Director of De- how America’s democracy is managed. mocracyWorks, a Hartford-based group that works on democracy re- America needs an election process that is efficient, trustworthy, and form. As a Connecticut state legis- welcoming. We need a renewed sense of citizenship and service, and a lator, he chaired the Committee on government that people can believe in. The next administration should Elections. In 1994, he was elected work hard to bring all voices into the democratic game, energetically ex- Secretary of the State of Connecti- pand voting and civic participation, and lead the country toward a new cut. In that office, he released two understanding of government’s role. important reports on the state of democracy in Connecticut. His arti- These are not trivial afterthoughts to the real world of economic policy. cles have appeared in national mag- In today’s America, elections and civil engagement are questions of azines and newspapers, and he was the founder of Northeast Action, a policy, not just process; and democracy policy ranks right up there with leading political reform organization (because it has become inseparable from) health care policy, energy in New England. policy, trade policy, and the rest. We won’t get our country right until we get our democracy right.

revitalizingdemocracy Democracy Ideas fronted with evidence of deceptive Campaign Financing Deliberative Democracy voter practices in African American The President should take the lead Democracy has too often been and Hispanic communities, the DOJ National Election Standards in enacting a comprehensive public discussed only in terms of elections. did nothing. It must energetically play To assure election integrity and financing system for federal elections. For democracy to be truly vibrant, its role in ensuring that all eligible rebuild voter confidence, we need a The presidential financing system is citizens need to connect with the firm set of national election standards. citizens can cast a meaningful vote. broken, and there is no public fi- decisions that matter in their lives. Our elections are a patchwork quilt nancing for congressional elections. Research and practice show there of thousands of different jurisdic- Despite Obama’s success, most candi- is tremendous value in deliberative tions, which vary wildly in funding States with dates are still beholden to the high- gatherings to debate and discuss and competence. Many states do Election Day stakes pay-for-play fundraising system. important issues. Whether these an excellent job. Others do not. The Senators Richard Durbin and Arlen meetings are large-scale conferences Election Assistance Commission Registration Specter, and Representative John or a series of weekly get-togethers, (EAC) was established after the 2000 experience voter Larson have proposed a public fund- whether they are intended to address Florida debacle as part of the Help ing system for Congress based on the problems of racism, zoning, health America Vote Act, to oversee and participation 8 to 10 successful model pioneered in Maine, care, or schools, these deliberative help fund improvements in election points higher than Arizona, and Connecticut. Research sessions allow a diversity of voices to administration. But it has been under- by Americans for Campaign Reform be heard, and better decisions to be funded, and was by design not given states without it. shows that $6 per person would fully made. Efforts at active civic engage- any enforcement capability. The EAC fund all congressional races. Small- ment have taken root in communi- needs the resources and the author- donor interest should be encouraged ties around the country over the last Expanded Access ity to set and enforce national stan- alongside meaningful public financing. two decades, and they ought to be dards in a number of critical areas. We need a legislative agenda to encouraged in multiple venues at the Key issues include voting machines move the country toward universal local, state, and federal levels. with public software and stringent voter registration. Election Day Regis- Technology plays a role here, too. audits, accurate voter lists, adequate tration is a key and achievable reform; People who care about the same poll worker preparation, identification EDR states have voter participation issues do not always live in the same requirements that do not discourage levels 8 to 10 points higher than states physical communities. Through Web voters, and expanded voter registra- without it. Voting opportunities sites, blogs, Twitter, and even delib- tion opportunities. should be expanded through early erative chat sessions, they can gather The Department of Justice must voting over a three-week period prior and deliberate online, to the great recommit itself to enforcing the vot- to Election Day, through the wider benefit of our democracy. These ing rights laws now on the books. use of mail-in ballots, and through practices can help make citizens more Over the past ten years, the DOJ has polling places with a sufficient num- committed not just to the topic at ignored the National Voter Registra- ber of machines and full accessibility. hand, but to civil society in general. tion Act and has shown little interest Residents of the District of Colum- In addition, it is time to put citi- in upholding the Voting Rights Act. bia should have full representation. zenship education back into school During the current administration, Efforts to discourage people from curricula, so that the next generation many DOJ enforcement actions were voting through intimidation or decep- knows how to play the democracy designed to shrink the rolls rather tive practices must be outlawed and game. And while we’re at it, our new than expand participation. When con- penalized. models of engagement – deliberative Anna Salzberg, Student Association for Voter Empowerment revitalizingdemocracy 21 and high-tech – ought to be part of A Citizen-Friendly Government Office of Civic Participation that education. A critical element of reviving citi- Restoring our democracy will Citizens should also be encour- zenship is restoring a belief in govern- require an ambitious and multifaceted aged to engage in national service. ment as the place where we all, as agenda. A new White House Office One possibility is a program of citizens, come together to solve our of Civic Participation could have a universal national service linked to common problems and plan for the key role to play. This new body could scholarship aid for college and oc- future. An important starting point is work with agencies throughout the cupational education. Such a program to make government function in a way federal government to encourage col- would have the dual benefit of making that is citizen-friendly. The next ad- laborative governance, dramatically college more affordable and reviving a ministration should work to increase enhancing levels of participation in universal notion of citizenship. the transparency of government and decision-making. It could also encour- lift the veil of secrecy that all too age new and more creative forms of often has been placed on budgeting democratic participation at all levels and rule-making. Taking as a starting of government. It could support grant point the new law requiring the fed- programs for civic participation initia- eral budget to be accessible on the tives in the non-profit sector. And it Web, the administration should make could be a focal point for meaningful ever-increasing amounts of informa- election reform. tion available online. As a long-term mission, it could Ronald Reagan was a leader in work to develop a new relationship undermining people’s faith in govern- between Americans and their govern- ment. The next president should ment. As government becomes more lead in regaining the people’s trust in open and more of a place of citizen government as a place where prob- participation, new understandings lems are solved. We need to not will emerge to replace the negative just rebuild our infrastructure, but views currently held by so many. And to teach the public about the critical new discussions on making American importance of maintaining it. Not just democracy as inclusive and vibrant to increase Head Start funding, but as possible can occur. For instance, a to articulate the rationale for public White House Conference on Citizen- investment in children. Not just to ship could begin to engage Americans re-regulate areas of the economy that in the understanding of citizenship have run amok, but to explain why itself, which could enliven our national a fair set of rules and regulations is discourse, and help shift the immigra- essential to economic growth. For tion debate away from polarization these tasks, leadership will be as and toward a national dialogue on important as policy change. what it means to be American.

Public funding for congressional races would cost $6 per person.

revitalizingdemocracy vision that, like the right-wing narrative, proceeds from values to prin- Upholding Community Values ciples to policies. Deepak Bhargava and Seth Borgos For the past three years, the Center for Community Change has been working with leaders from more than a hundred grassroots organizations Between the defeat of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan’s election to construct a political story rooted in their own aspirations and experi- to the presidency, American conservatives forged a cogent and effective ences. American communities, with all their diversity, embody a common political narrative. The signature policies of the conservative movement ethical ideal. In a healthy community, people feel connected to each – tax cuts, privatization, deregulation – were grounded in a simple set of other. They care for each other and take shared responsibility for the guiding principles: freedom is the highest public value; competition is future. They are willing to sacrifice personal interests for the common the engine of progress; markets are intrinsically fair and rational; big gov- good. Everyone has something of value to offer. Everyone is included. ernment constrains liberty and fosters dependency. These principles, Everyone belongs. in turn, rested on a starkly individualistic worldview that emphasized the autonomy of the self and the When these norms are universalized and ap- voluntary character of society. While conservatives Even conservative elites plied to the body politic, we refer to them as community values. Interdependence, mutual did not win every battle, they succeeded in estab- express disquiet and lishing their ideology as the norm; it became the de- responsibility, shared fate – this communal ideal fault position in American politics, giving the Right a creeping doubt about has deep roots in American culture, where it structural advantage that proved decisive over time. where their ideas have led. has lived in creative tension with the ideal of self-reliance that is also a part of our national After more than quarter-century, the conservative heritage. All of our best moments as a nation chokehold has begun to loosen. The obvious part of the story involves have reflected a marriage of these two ideas -- a disastrous war, a deteriorating economy, and an unpopular president. personal liberation and collective uplift. The radical individualism of the Conventional political analysis (unable to see beyond the obvious) conservative ideologues destroyed that generative balance. After thirty would have the next administration use its mandate to advance policies years of exile in the wilderness, community values need to be restored with broad, poll-tested support – “low-hanging fruit” left over from the to their central place in our politics, not in a stealthy, furtive way but Bush years – instead of questioning the foundational principles that have openly and forthrightly. defined our public discourse for the past generation. What does embracing community values tell us about the world as it But that would be a profound misreading of the public mood. Under- is and the world as it should be? From hundreds of conversations with neath the disenchantment with the Bush Administration lies a wide- grassroots leaders, five overarching principles have emerged: spread if inchoate sense that the go-it-alone ethos has been taken too far, that a conception of public good solely based on competition and 1. Our shared quality of life is more important than the open-ended consumption is lacking some essential moral dimension. Even conser- accumulation of wealth. In the standard economic story, wealth-seeking vative elites express disquiet and creeping doubt about where their investors and entrepreneurs get almost all of the credit for growth and ideas have led. This is precisely the moment to challenge the ideological innovation. As long as this core assumption remains in place, any pro- underpinnings of the conservative revolution and frame an alternative posal to limit the pursuit of wealth or distribute income more equitably

communityvalues 23 can be dismissed as illegitimate or counterproductive. To change the education, good health, decent income, decent housing, and terms of the debate, we must: a sense of security and opportunity.

• Tell a different story about wealth creation and economic 4. Democracy means having real voice and power in all of the institu- growth, one in which all of us – workers, communities, caregiv- tions that affect our lives. As John Dewey and other progressive pio- ers, teachers, public servants – play a central role. neers long ago recognized, democracy is not just a process; it is an ethos • Develop policies that go beyond redistributing income and animated by the ideals of inclusion, individual worth, and collective regulating corporate behavior to changing the operating responsibility. By identifying democracy with the act of voting, we have rules and assumptions of business enterprises. lost touch with this ideal and helped make Americans deeply cynical about the gap between democratic rhetoric and reality. To reanimate 2. Patterns of racism and inequality are deeply embedded in our nation, the democratic spirit we must: and will only be erased through deliberate, targeted efforts. We are all in this together, but we don’t all start from the same place. There are • Restore the credibility of our political process through root- legacies of discrimination, exclusion, and violence whose destructive im- level reforms (a topic addressed elsewhere in this document). pact on our collective life cannot be healed simply by instituting color- • Begin to apply democratic principles to the full range of blind or gender-blind policies. To create a genuinely inclusive American institutions that govern our lives, including neighborhoods, community, we must: schools, and business enterprises.

• Face our history squarely, not to stir guilt or recrimination 5. The security and prosperity of Americans is inseparable from the se- but to create a shared recognition of the ways in which past curity and prosperity of other nations. Progressives have been inconsis- injustices have shaped the current patterns and structures of tent about the role of the United States in the world, appealing to moral our society. universalism and altruism on some issues (foreign aid, human rights), and • Combine “universal” social programs with policies designed to isolationist, “America-first” sentiments on other issues (trade, military to heal the communities most affected by the destructive intervention). Our failure to resolve this tension has come home to roost legacies of the past. in the immigration debate, creating deep fissures within the progressive community and making it very difficult to articulate a coherent alterna- 3. Government is an essential tool for doing together what we cannot tive to the current system. To get out of this box, we must: do on our own. Few Americans believe in government as an abstrac- tion. When the debate is cast as one over the appropriate size or scope • Be clear and unapologetic in saying that the actions and of government, the outcome is rarely in doubt. The question we need to policies of the United States have had profound effects on be asking instead is whether the fundamental things we value as a com- other nations, and that it is neither morally nor practically munity -- shared responsibility and shared sacrifice -- can be achieved feasible to address our national problems in isolation from without a strong role for government. The answer is clearly no, but to the rest of the world. carry that point we must: • Develop policy initiatives that embody the deep linkages between migration, trade, and economic development, that • Be explicit and persistent about the failure of market build on recognition of our shared fate in an interconnected mechanisms to deliver a society where everyone has a good world rather than on appeals to charity or national chauvinism.

communityvalues In 2009, progressives have a unique opportunity to offer a vision of the nation’s future that is consistent with our deepest beliefs. We must seize this moment, when the public is thirsting for change, to challenge the radical individualism of the conservative revolution and resurrect the ideal of community, with its core values of interdependence, inclusion and mutual responsibility. We must translate these values into substan- tive principles and be honest about their political implications, as the conservatives were thirty years ago. And we must be ready to test those principles against reality with bold policy initiatives rather than falling back into timid ideas and derivative thinking. In this way – perhaps only in this way – we can expand the boundaries of the possible and create a new moral foundation for the next era in our national life.

Authors

Deepak Bhargava is the Executive Director of the Center for Com- munity Change. Prior to joining the Center, Bhargava was the Legis- lative Director at ACORN. He serves on the boards of the Applied Research Center, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Discount Foundation, League of Education Voters, The Nation editorial board, and the National Advisory Board for the Open Society Institute.

Seth Borgos is Director of Research and Program Development at the Center for Community Change, a national organization whose mission is to promote economic and social justice by strengthen- ing the field of community organizing. He spent six years as national research director for ACORN, in addition to working for the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program. He is the co-author of This Mighty Dream, a pictorial history of social change movements in the United States.

communityvalues 25 Community Ideas • Development of a shared code of that would make long-term invest- ture from promoting growth in ethical conduct for corporations ments in projects (such as clean- affluent, outer-ring suburbs to The principles we have articulated (in labor, consumer, and environ- up of toxic hazards, expansion the renewal of older, higher-need are not gauzy platitudes but substan- mental practices) and a system of of recreational facilities, anti-vio- communities. tive ideas with substantive implica- public rewards and sanctions to lence programs, farmers markets) tions – that is what makes them worth encourage businesses to observe with demonstrated impact on Immigration debating as a nation. In this debate, the code. community health outcomes. Rather than treating immigration as some Americans will immediately • Systematic support for the forma- • Requiring a community health a law enforcement problem, we need align pro or con, but many will hesi- tion and growth of businesses assessment – analogous to an to accept labor mobility as a reality of tate. They will be attracted to commu- that are structurally accountable environmental impact assessment our current global economic system nity values, which are deeply rooted to their communities via employ- – for all major public policies. while working over the long term to in our moral traditions, but question ee ownership, cooperative owner- ensure that people are not forced to their application to practical politics. ship, and other mechanisms. Poverty migrate by the lack of opportunity in Hence, the ultimate test of these prin- Sharp disparities of wealth, status, their home countries. Our immigra- ciples is whether they are a compel- Community Health and opportunity are incompatible tion policy needs to work on at least ling basis for public policy. In the current drive to win univer- with community values. After a span three levels: The following four scenarios dem- sal health coverage for Americans, of decades when the struggle against onstrate what it would mean to trans- it is easy to forget the larger goal, poverty was effectively abandoned, • For immigrants who are already late community values into action. which is health itself. Lack of access we need to recommit the nation to here, and already an integral to health care is only responsible for the work of addressing the economic part of our communities, we need Stakeholder Capitalism about 20 percent of the disparities legacies of racism and discrimination. a path to citizenship, access to There is a fundamental conflict that – to cite one shocking example This will require an array of strate- higher education, and other mea- between community values and the – have reduced women’s life ex- gies targeted to the most intractable sures to assure that they are not idea that corporations are solely ac- pectancy in nearly a quarter of U.S. problems in low-income communities excluded from our democracy. countable to their stockholders and counties over the past decade. Other of color, including: • For future flow, we need a regu- capital markets. The looming crisis in critical risk factors involve education, lated system of labor migration the economy offers an opportunity to housing, employment, nutrition, envi- • A comprehensive program for and transparent labor markets rethink the relationship between cor- ronmental quality, and the strength of bringing the unemployed (particu- that fosters flexibility and mobility porations and society. As we consider social networks. As a nation, we need larly young people and ex-offend- while protecting both migrants bailouts and rescue operations for to commit ourselves to specific tar- ers) into the workforce, including and native-born workers from the industries imperiled by the downturn, gets for improving collective indices basic education, job training, ap- most destructive effects of job we should implement a broad set of community health over the next prenticeships, local hiring agree- competition. of policies to assure that business decade, and invest in a range of strat- ments, green jobs, and a mobile • To catalyze debate on the broad- enterprises enhance our collective egies to achieve that end, including: corps of paid community workers. er factors driving labor migration, quality of life rather than undermine • A national housing trust fund to we should create a demonstration it, including: • Expansion of community health produce the affordable housing in program that targets infrastruc- centers, promatoras, and other low-income neighborhoods that ture investments (water, transpor- • A requirement that the boards systems that have proven effec- cannot be generated by market tation, education, health care, of larger corporations include tive in delivering low-cost, preven- forces alone. credit) to communities worldwide community and worker represen- tive health care. • Redirecting investment in trans- that are generating the highest tatives. • A healthy communities Superfund portation and public infrastruc- rates of migration to the U.S.

communityvalues of us against an ill-defined them. Through blatant disregard for suspects’ rights and the rule of law, American leaders have alienated many of our

Rejoining the World natural allies. Jim Harkness and Alexandra Spieldoch This new unilateralism has deepened our problems and diminished the Sixty years ago, it was the United States that advocated most eloquently U.S. position as a global leader. For our own sake and the world’s, the for passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global next administration should act quickly to chart a new course of global expression of the inherent rights of all people. We were the richest and cooperation. The United States must reengage with international institu- most powerful country on earth, and the problems of other nations tions and conventions, while, at the same time, reasserting the public seemed to have little practical bearing on our prosperity; nevertheless, interest over the corporate interest and honoring the links between our the American commitment to multilateral solutions was bold and un- national well-being and international development, human rights, and wavering. Today, by contrast, many of our biggest challenges are clearly the environment. A new approach in just four areas—the United Nations, global in nature. Yet even as domestic policy has become more and trade, the environment, and food policy—would send a strong message more obviously intertwined with foreign policy, the United States has to the international community that the United States has decided to chosen to distance itself from international organizations and negotia- rejoin the global community. tions. At the United Nations, we stand near the back of the line when it comes to ratifying international In one area of policy after another, the Bush The economy, our food system, administration has taken a go-it-alone approach, treaties and conventions. Through prompt action to the shame of our country and the dismay of the environment and security on just a few of the many pending agreements the rest of the world. Climate change is an obvi- – all call for global solutions, that protect workers, children, women and the ous and appalling example. Policies that encour- which can only emerge from a environment, the next administration can signal its age sprawl and runaway consumption here at renewed commitment to readiness to help revive the United Nations as a tool for solving global problems and keeping the home lead to higher temperatures and water international cooperation. levels in Myanmar and Miami alike. As the largest peace. greenhouse-gas emitter, the United States bears a special burden of responsibility. Yet, over the Over a span of decades, American leaders have past eight years, Washington has stood conspicuously apart from global aggressively pushed a corporate-led free trade model rooted in the twin climate negotiations. As a result, the United States itself now looms as a principles of deregulation and privatization. Through the North Ameri- huge barrier to progress in convincing poorer countries to adopt more can Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other trade pacts, recent U.S. sustainable practices. On economic questions, the administration has policy has increased economic growth for large multinational corpora- consistently carried the water for private capital, leading to policies that tions at the expense of workers, farmers and the environment on both have lowered wages, widened the chasm between rich and poor, and ends of our trading relationships. Trade agreements should support left millions with little choice but to migrate (from rural areas to cities, social, economic and environmental goals. They should operate within from one country to another) in pursuit of a more secure life. On the international conventions that protect the public interest. The next national security front, the administration took a concern shared by administration must provide a new vision for trade that puts people, many nations – terrorism - and turned it into an American-branded war communities, and the environment first.

globalsociety 27

The current food crisis requires immediate attention. In mid-2007, Authors before prices shot up, an estimated 850 million people lived in a state of crippling hunger, which the United Nations defines as continuously Jim Harkness is Executive Director getting too little food to maintain a healthy and minimally active life. of the Institute for Agriculture and Another 50 million have now joined those ranks, and the number will Trade Policy. Prior to joining IATP continue to grow if the current pattern of food-price volatility continues, in 2006, he was Executive Director as many predict it will. Three quarters of the world’s extremely poor of the World Wildlife Fund in Chi- people - 1.2 billion of us - live and work in rural areas where agriculture is na, where he expanded the orga- the dominant sector of the economy. But decades of underinvestment nization’s profile from a strict focus in agriculture, combined with the “free trade” and deregulation thrust of on conservation of biodiversity to also addressing the consequences U.S. policy, have turned countries that used to produce their own food of China’s economic growth on a into net food importers. Today, many of the world’s largest agricultural broader sustainable development producers, including the United States itself, face acute water shortages agenda. From 1995–1999, he was the in vital areas of arable land. Our industrial, export-oriented brand of Ford Foundation’s Environment and agriculture is deeply dependent on oil and strongly linked to high green- Development Program Officer for house gas emissions. Whole new agricultural systems are needed—sys- China. In addition, he has been an tems that support local food needs, can withstand climate change, and adviser for the World Bank and the maintain the health of the land and natural resources on which our food United Nations Food and Agricul- system depends. Better agricultural, financial and food aid policies ture Organization. could protect people against price volatility and scarcity. Alexandra Spieldoch is Director of the Trade and Global Gover- In the postwar decades, the United States led the way in creating a nance Program at the Institute for multilateral order. The World Bank; the International Monetary Fund; Agriculture and Trade Policy. The the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (later to become the World TGG team works toward economic Trade Organization); the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights; and, of policies and democratic institutions course, the United Nations itself – American leaders were present at the that support human rights, local birth of all these enduring institutions, which were intended to facilitate food systems, and the environment. international cooperation in law, human rights, economic development, She has published many research social progress and global security. Those same principles are a good and popular education materials on starting point for American policy today. The economy, our food system, international trade and investment the environment and security – all call for global solutions, which can from a human rights and develop- only emerge from a renewed commitment to international cooperation. ment perspective. She studied at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as the Univer- ity of Caen in Normandy, France, and holds an M.A. in International Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

globalsociety Global Ideas ministration should actively support a Protecting Our Common The U.S. signed but never ratified fairer decision-making process within Environment the U.N. Convention on Biological The U.S. and the U.N.: international bodies, particularly Environmental challenges demand Diversity (CBD). The new administra- A Time for Reconciliation those dealing with global trade and global action. The United States has tion should work with Congress to Most Americans believe that the finance, so that all countries, not just lagged behind the rest of the world in ratify this important agreement as United Nations plays an important the biggest or most intransigent, have supporting the U.N. treaty system to well as the related Cartagena Proto- part in the world and would like to a voice. Through these first steps, the protect the environment. The new ad- col on Biosafety, which recognizes the see its powers increased, despite next administration can establish its ministration should create a presiden- “precautionary principle.” Under the justified criticism of its inability to credibility – and the nation’s – as a sin- tial Office of the U.S. Representative precautionary principle, when an ac- effectively deal with human rights cere partner in the pursuit of a more on Multilateral Environmental Agree- tion or policy could potentially cause abuses and international peacekeep- engaged and enlightened multilateral ments (MEAs) that would have a serious or irreversible harm to public ing needs. In fact, today’s United system. mandate comparable to the Office of health or the environment, that action Nations is a far cry from the organiza- The next big step will be to sup- the U.S. Trade Representative, and a or policy will not be allowed, despite tion envisioned by world leaders at port the Millennium Development concomitant budget and staffing level. the absence of full scientific certainty its founding in San Francisco in 1945. Goals (MDGs) and the U.N. treaty This new position would work with on the matter. The principle recog- That is true, in large part, because the system that serves as a framework for the UN and the U.S. Congress to find nizes that waiting for scientific proof Bush administration has abandoned human and social rights. The United global solutions to urgent problems. sometimes means waiting too long. the United Nations as the primary lo- States has signed on to the MDGs, High on the list of environmental trea- cus of global cooperation. By slashing which range from halving extreme ties for the U.S. to join are the Kyoto A Trade Policy for People, funding, ignoring rules, refusing to join poverty to halting the spread of HIV/ Protocol and the U.N. Convention on Communities and new institutions such as the Interna- AIDS to providing universal primary Biological Diversity. the Environment tional Criminal Court and appointing education, all by 2015, but has done Through its failure to ratify the Through regional treaties like a U.N. Ambassador who was openly little to support them. By ratifying sev- Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Frame- NAFTA, and during international hostile to the institution, the admin- eral important treaties, we can help work Convention on Climate Change trade negotiations at the World Trade istration has sought to undercut the restore our credibility as a supporter (UNFCC), the United States has Organization, the Bush administration United Nations at nearly every turn. of international human rights. Those undermined its ability to participate has aggressively pushed a corporate- A renewed U.S. commitment could treaties include the International in climate discussions. This country led free trade agenda. Several recent both help solve global problems Covenant on Economic, Social and needs to ratify Kyoto immediately, and polls show that the American public and improve the effectiveness of the Cultural Rights and the conventions then focus on the Copenhagen com- opposes the current free trade model institution. on the Elimination of All Forms of mitments now being negotiated and and is ready for a new set of trade The first challenge is to rebuild Discrimination Against Women and on expected to take effect in December rules that reflect the public interest. trust with other U.N. members. The the Rights of the Child. 2009. As part of these global climate new administration should begin by negotiations, the United States should paying its back dues. It should ap- be a leader in committing to greater point a U.N. ambassador with stat- reductions in greenhouse gas emis- ure—and with a strong commitment sions among developed countries. We to internationalism and an explicit should also take a leadership role in mandate to help make the United Na- helping developing countries address tions more effective, including steps the economic hardships that result to improve its efficiency and financial from rising oil prices and natural accounting practices. The next ad- disasters.

globalsociety 29 The recently introduced TRADE Global Food Security food and agricultural policies, but mum of 0.7 percent of its Gross Act, officially titled the “Trade, -Ac The United States is an indispen- would be held accountable to National Product on overseas countability, Development and sible player in the work of stabilizing international environmental and development assistance, today Employment Act of 2008,” provides global food prices and preventing human rights, including the Right it spends less than 0.2 percent. an excellent blueprint for a new fair starvation. We are one of the world’s to Food. The new administration should trade system. The TRADE Act was largest agricultural producers and set • Food sovereignty as a corner- move toward a cabinet-level introduced on June 4, 2008 by Sen. global prices for several key com- stone of trade policy: Instead of Department of Global Develop- Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. modities. The United States is also a narrow focus on forcing open ment that works with Congress Mike Michaud (D-Maine). It is sup- the largest giver of food aid in the markets in other countries, the to coordinate foreign assistance ported by labor, consumer, environ- world, but does it badly. The new ad- United States should advocate for programs, with a new focus on mental, family farm and faith groups ministration should use a global food rules that respect the right of all eradicating hunger and poverty, and more than 50 co-sponsors in the sovereignty lens to assess its food countries to safeguard their food improving education and health, House and the Senate. The TRADE and agriculture policies. At the global sovereignty through support for and helping countries reach the Act goes further than providing a level, food sovereignty implies two re- farmers and agriculture, border Millennium Development Goals. congressional space to review trade lated but distinct concerns: the right measures and food reserves. U.S. food aid programs urgently deals that are not working. It lists of countries to determine and imple- • A strategic grain reserve: The need reform. These programs components that should be included ment their own food security policies, next administration should act are inefficient, expensive and and excluded from U.S. trade agree- and the responsibility of all countries quickly to establish farmer-held untimely, and too often hurt local ments so as to protect the environ- to protect every person’s human right grain reserves, and should initiate food markets in recipient coun- ment, workers and communities. The to food, as set out in the UN Conven- a global dialogue on building a tries. Instead, we should build on TRADE Act also strengthens the role tion on Economic, Social and Cultural network of reserves around the efforts initiated by President Bush of Congress by allowing members to Rights. Four actions could go a long world to stabilize global grain toward programs that are free review and renegotiate existing trade way toward that goal: prices. Food reserves should be from requirements to source or agreements, such as NAFTA, in order complemented by border mea- handle the food in the U.S., and to ensure they are in compliance with • Support for a Global Food Con- sures to ensure that local prices give priority to cash-based over sustainable development goals. As vention. The U.S. should provide are not destabilized by dumped in-kind donations so recipient well, it empowers Congress to require leadership within the UN in build- imports. countries can source food locally. that all future trade agreements ing towards a Global Food Con- • Regulation of commodity mar- This flexibility allows assistance to comply with its provisions. A new ad- vention, which would serve as a kets: Commodity speculation is be delivered quickly to those who ministration should work closely with legal framework to address food one of the main drivers of price need it most. Food aid should Congress to use the TRADE Act as sovereignty and the agricultural volatility - one that can and must work with international coopera- the basis for a new fair trade policy. dimensions of climate change. be controlled. It is in everyone’s tion programs to build support for The goal would be to establish interest to ensure that food and local food systems in developing binding commitments for all UN agriculture markets can function countries. governments, with a strong frame- properly, reflecting actual supply work for use by local and regional and demand. Speculation con- authorities. With a Global Food fuses the signals and contributes Convention supported by a multi- directly to hunger. stakeholder international com- • Reformed – and increased - for- mission, governments would have eign aid: While the United States sovereignty to define their own has promised to spend a mini-

globalsociety

taking action

A shared sense of excitement and anticipation reverber- ates through these essays. The authors see an extraordi- nary opportunity for change, and a great need to make the most of it. But the windows for reform in American politics narrow quickly. The new administration must immediately push for bold legislation; the dilemmas we face are too se- rious for tentative steps or half-measures.

The legislation we enact on critical issues— providing health care and opportunity, addressing climate change and the middle class squeeze—must immediately improve lives. Too often, though, change evaporates with a new election or new crisis. We must demand reforms that permanently shift the ground on which future debates are held. The mark of true progressive legislation is sticking power.

Immediate action is the first priority, but our work must also set the stage for continued progress. Let us bear in mind the challenges we will face in the decades ahead; our leaders must not only pass legislation but shift the tone of debate, raise expectations of our national government, and define our national purpose. The right agenda can do exactly that. But we are not starting from scratch. During World War II, U.S. employ- ers began providing health insurance as a way to attract scarce workers Health Care for America at a time of strict wage-price controls. Tax laws went on to codify our Roger Hickey employer-based system, which even now provides health care for 160 million Americans - a majority of those not on Medicare. Their support Long before anyone had been nominated or elected, the voters of 2008 was the critical missing piece in 1993. That’s when the Clinton adminis- had gotten one message across loud and clear: Fix our dysfunctional tration set out confidently down the path of health care reform – only to health care system! For obvious reasons (and big reasons that aren’t so see its proposal cut to shreds by insurer-sponsored TV spots in which a obvious), the leaders of 2009 must heed that call. middle-class couple called “Harry and Louise” warned of a sinister plot to “force us to pick from a few health care plans designed by govern- America’s health care system is in meltdown. More than 45.7 million of ment bureaucrats.” us have no health insurance. But even those with good insurance face rising costs and a growing risk of losing the protection they have. Every The good news is that Americans are much more suspicious of the insur- year, tens of millions of Americans go uninsured for long periods - when ance industry now than they were then. Many people have wised up a layoff, a divorce, or illness itself disrupts their ability to get or pay for to the way insurers compete by cherry-picking younger, healthier work- coverage. (Forty-one percent of working-age Americans making $20,000 ers and employing armies of agents to deny claims – sometimes even to $40,000 per year lacked insurance for at least part of 2007.) Still when it means condemning someone to premature death or a lifetime more millions are seriously under-insured, though many don’t realize it of chronic illness. Of all the world’s nations, the United States spends since insurance companies tend to be secretive about the conditions by far the most money on health care per capita and in total. Our health and procedures they refuse to cover - until we actually need the care. care system is enormously wasteful and chaotically organized – and Americans know it. About two-thirds of all voters are prepared to see In an economy that’s gone bad and getting worse, countless American taxes increase in order to provide high-quality health insurance for families – insured and uninsured alike – live in dread of being plunged everyone. Even a majority of those who are satisfied with their coverage into poverty or destitution by a major health problem. In fact, more than now grasp the need for major reform. half of all individual and family bankruptcies are triggered by medical bills. The sticking point for many, however, is the ability to keep the insurance Health care is a momentous problem in its own right. It’s also hugely they have. The answer is to guarantee that option, building it into a plan important as part of the broader breakdown of economic security in our that also lets people choose from a menu of private insurance alterna- country, and as a symbol of political gridlock and unresponsive govern- tives (with regulated benefits and costs) or sign up for a Medicare-like ment. For all these reasons, it’s an issue to be addressed boldly, deci- public plan, which can act as a benchmark for its private competitors. sively, and, at the same time, with an extra measure of care. That’s the concept behind Health Care for America, a proposal put together by the political scientist Jacob Hacker with the support of the If we were starting from scratch, “single payer” might be the way to go. Economic Policy Institute. With one public insurance plan covering everyone, Americans could po- tentially realize hundreds of billions of dollars a year in savings on point- Health Care for America is simple and flexible enough to appeal to a less bureaucracy and profits - more than enough to cover the uninsured majority of Americans, but bold enough to do the job of covering every- and improve coverage for tens of millions of under-insured. one and controlling health price inflation. And it holds the promise of

healthcare 33 becoming better over time, as more and more Americans shift over to These new proposals come from the same ideological playbook (and the public plan, lured by its higher efficiency and more generous benefits. the same extreme right-wing think tanks) as President Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security. Americans rejected that idea decisively; that’s Employers would be required to provide quality health insurance or pay also how most people will react to the Republican (and insurance in- into a public fund to cover their employees. But even most big compa- dustry) health-care agenda, once they understand it. The stark contrast nies that already insure their workers would come out ahead, with total between the conservative and progressive vision for health care should savings estimated at more than $50 billion per year.. For small business- make for a robust public debate and build support for comprehensive reform. es that haven’t been able to afford health insurance for their employees, payments into the public fund would be far smaller than the bill private in- Through a full-throated debate over health care, progressives can awak- surance companies would charge them for employee premium costs. Even en Americans to the broader perils of a radical economic agenda that though many companies would be required to take more responsibility, the places the risks of a volatile global and financial economy squarely on total health insurance burden on business would be greatly reduced. our individual shoulders. But health care advocates – national and com- munity leaders, grassroots activists and bloggers – need to make sure such a debate happens during the 2008 election campaign and beyond. Success on the health care front will revive faith in the ability of our national government Fifteen years after the tragedy of the Clinton health care initiative; more than 60 years after Harry Truman proposed legislation “to assure the to do big, important things in service of the right to adequate medical care and protection from the economic fears common good. of sickness;” decades after that idea became the norm among the rich countries of the world, the United States has a fresh chance – a real chance - to act. Progressives are united as never before in their commitment to quality and affordable care for all. This time around, reformers must coalesce For the next administration, for Congress, and for the nation as a whole, behind a politically compelling proposal, and prepare to debate it health care will be a defining battle. Comprehensive reform could be a openly and explain it clearly. They should be equally clear about what crucial, confidence-building first step toward a 21st century social con- they’re against. tract – a new national commitment to the kind of basic economic secu- rity that will encourage Americans to take chances, invest in the future, Conservatives used to be content to defend a worsening status quo. and thrive in years to come. Success on the health-care front will greatly For years, they have opposed almost all attempts to restrain the in- improve the prospects for success on other fronts. It will revive faith in surance and pharmaceutical industries or to expand coverage by, for the ability of our leaders –the ability of our national government – to do example, bringing millions more children into the SCHIP program. But big important things in service of the common good. more recently, conservative leaders have been promoting more radi- cal and dangerous proposals to tax the health benefits that most of us No other achievement on the political horizon promises to make such a get at work. That’s a sure-fire way to drive more employers out of the large difference in so many lives. No other breakthrough will do so much health care business. As many as 20 million Americans could lose their to set the stage for a broad progressive breakthrough. insurance under a plan backed by (among others) presidential candidate John McCain.

healthcare Health Ideas Quality Coverage for All Choice Americans want an inclusive and Americans need to be guaran- Principles for Real Healthcare More than half of all accessible health care system that teed health care options. If you individual and family To turn the promise of quality, leaves no one out. That means, in like your current health insurance, affordable health care into real- bankruptcies are triggered the first place, high-quality insur- you should be guaranteed that you ity, a new coalition, called Health by medical bills. ance with comprehensive ben- can keep it – unlike radical conser- Care for America Now was efits – covering everything from vative plans that would dismantle launched in July 2008 with events preventive care to treatment of employer-provided health care, in Washington, D.C., and in most the most serious illness. And for forcing millions to buy coverage of the fifty states. The mission low-income people and communi- with an inadequate voucher in of this coalition, which includes Let us resolve ties of color, it means a serious the individual insurance mar- more than 230 national and local commitment to equity in access, ket. Everyone should be able to organizations, is to establish an that the state treatment, research, resources – choose a regulated private group unmistakable mandate for action, and outcomes. plan. And everyone should also making the 2008 election cam- of a family’s be able to sign up with something paign, which is already destined new: a public insurance plan, like to revolve around the economy, a health shall Medicare, that is independent of referendum on health care. private insurance middlemen. never depend Choice also means the right to pick your doctor and health care on the size provider. Employers, too, get expanded of a family’s options. Those who prefer not to shoulder the burden of provid- wealth. ing coverage as good as the law requires can decide to enroll their Senator Edward M. Kennedy workers in the public plan at a August 12, 1980 modest cost. But they have to do one or the other, in order to en- sure that affordable, quality health coverage is guaranteed for all. Decades after this idea was the norm in wealthy coun- tries around the world, the U.S. has a fresh chance - a real chance - to act.

healthcare 35 Affordable Coverage the expense of high-quality care, A Strong Government and Treatment the new public plan would also Watchdog Author Working families, retirees, large monitor and improve the quality Guaranteeing quality and afford- and small businesses and other of care, learning from and applying able health care for all will require Roger Hickey is a founder and employers - all need stable health successful methods from all parts consistent public leadership to co-director of the Campaign for care prices, with premiums and of the health system. set and enforce rules involving America’s Future. He was also other charges based on a family’s insurance company practices and one of the founders of Ameri- ability to pay. This will require ef- charges so that people are not cans United to Protect Social fective cost controls that improve denied coverage, and to make Security, a coalition of citizen quality, lower administrative ex- sure all basic health care needs leaders representing consumers, penses, and encourage preventive are covered in a transparent way. workers, women, seniors, young care and active disease manage- We must set standards to insure people, civil rights advocates, ment. Health care reform should that risk is fairly spread among all and community activists—united include performance standards health care payers – and to make around the goal of strengthening and systems to reduce medical sure public and private insurers Social Security and Medicare. errors. And it must take advantage compete on a level playing field Americans United is now work- of public purchasing power to – and that insurers do not turn ing on Medicare prescription lower the cost of drugs and medi- people away, raise rates or drop drugs and other issues. Hickey cal devices and services across coverage based on a person’s also helped found the Economic the board. health history or wrongly delay or Policy Institute (EPI), a Washing- The new public plan would be deny care. ton think tank that looks at eco- similar to Medicare, where admin- nomics from the point of view istrative costs run between 2 and of working Americans. Hickey 3 percent of total spending, much served as EPI’s vice president lower than the private sector, with and director of communications. its expensive advertising, complex A graduate of the University of billing systems, and other costs. Virginia, Hickey began his career Together, the new public plan and in the 1960s as an organizer for Medicare would function as two the Virginia Civil Rights Commit- very large nationwide insurance tee and the Southern Students’ pools covering more than half the Organizing Committee. population. By bargaining jointly with providers, hospitals, and phar- Editing assistance for this piece maceutical companies, they would was provided by Bill Scher, have enormous combined leverage who, among other things, is a to hold down costs. To ensure that blogger at OurFuture.org. these economies did not come at

healthcare Low-income Americans will be pivotal to the success of that coalition for action. But despite clear evidence that they will be disproportionately An Inclusive Green Economy impacted by climate change, low-income people are ‘swing votes’ up for Van Jones and Jason Walsh grabs in the unprecedented political battle that awaits us, and on which so much depends. In the 21st century, America will be defined by its response to two great challenges: One is global warming, which threatens irreparable harm Polluters and their champions have a history of using economic scare to our planet and its people. The other is the increasingly unequal tactics to defeat climate protection measures. That was a winning for- economy of our own country, which is now more divided between rich mula as recently as June 2008, when the Senate took up the Lieberman- and poor than at any time in living memory. The necessary response to Warner Climate Security bill to create a cap and trade system for GHG these intertwined realities is to build an inclusive green economy, strong emissions. Opponents of that proposal made two claims, and repeated enough to lift people out of poverty. them endlessly: It would raise gas prices. It would wreck the U.S. economy. Much of their rhetoric focused on the conse- A powerful logic connects the two missions. The quences for low-income Americans, and that proved to shift to a more efficient, low-carbon economy will Green jobs means: be a powerful line of argument, even when it came from have profound health benefits for poor people, who Senators, like Mississippi’s Thad Cochran and Arizona’s • Better health John Kyl, known for consistently voting against legislation suffer disproportionately from cancer, asthma, and • New opportunities other pollution-related ailments. And the effort to that would directly benefit poor people by, for example, curb global warming and oil dependence contains and career paths raising the minimum wage or expanding children’s health enormous potential to create new jobs and avenues • Smart spending on insurance. of opportunity, by creating pathways to ensure that infrastructure that To counter such arguments and bring significant num- the work that most needs doing – rebuilding, retro- lasts fitting, and restoring our cities and town, our infra- bers of poor and working-class Americans into a winning structure and public lands – is done by those who coalition, climate protection has to be presented as most need the work. economic policy based on core American values of op- portunity and fairness. That means, for one thing, redefining the threat. Politically as well as economically, it makes sense for the poor and dis- While low-income communities are hardly monolithic, it is safe to say advantaged to be key players in this process. A crucial early step will be that polar bear habitat does not top the list of concerns in West Oak- the design and construction of a system that places a price on green- land, Newark, and Appalachia. To reach people where they are, it would house gas (GHG) emissions and invests the proceeds in mechanisms make more sense to talk about the fact that it is poor people who can that drive us toward a low-carbon economy. No part of the transition to generally expect to be hit first and worst by climate catastrophes – wit- a sustainable economy is more urgently needed – and none will be more ness Hurricane Katrina. fiercely resisted by the industries that dominate our current pollution- based economy. Their opposition can be overcome only by expanding But words will not be enough. Even these realities of current risk re- the coalition of support beyond the traditional environmental organiza- main somewhat distant questions for people struggling day-to-day with tions that have been the loudest voices for change to date. violence, joblessness, pollution, and lack of healthcare and affordable housing. Because nobody has “issue fatigue” like poor people, a climate

greeneconomy 37 protection campaign must do more than speak to their immediate con- cerns; it must offer a lifeline of hope and possibility through investment in green-collar job creation and training.

The power of this approach goes beyond self-interest. It summons peo- ple into a compelling moral struggle that welcomes them as key players and co-creators of solutions. It appeals to a grand sense of purpose on a planetary scale. At the same time, it is grounded in meaningful action at the neighborhood scale – restoring communities with green space and green buildings, restoring bodies with healthy local food and clean air, and restoring families with purpose and paychecks.

By framing solutions to climate change as mechanisms for creating new jobs, opportunities, wealth, and health in low-income neighborhoods, we can win millions of members of this key constituency to the struggle for a sane climate policy. We can – indeed we have no choice but to - fight poverty, pollution and global warming at the same time.

Authors

Van Jones is President of Green For All, which grew out of a “Green Jobs Corps” that he established in Oakland, California, as part of a program at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. In 1996, he was the founder of the Ella Baker Center, which promotes alternatives to violence and in- carceration. Its “Books Not Bars” campaign has helped reduce California’s overall youth prison population by more than 30 percent. He has also served on the boards of the National Apollo Alliance, Social Ventures Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers, and Julia Butterfly Hill’s “Circle of Life” organization. He is a Senior Fellow with Center for American Progress (CAP) and a Fellow at IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences).

Jason Walsh is National Policy Director of Green For All. He was previously State Policy Director for The Workforce Alliance, a national coali- tion promoting public policies that invest in the skills of America’s workers. In that capacity, he worked on a range of federal and state workforce development legislation, including the Green Jobs Act. He has also been Director of the Affirmative Options Coalition, a Minnesota-based anti- poverty coalition, as well as a union organizer with SEIU and UNITE, and a policy fellow for the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. He is a graduate of the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota.

The Clean Energy Corps proposal was developed by the Clean Energy Corps Working Group, which was formed in January 2007. In addition to the authors, its members include (institutional affiliations for identification purposes only): Kate Gordon of the Apollo Alliance; Jeremy Hays of Green For All; Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress Action Fund; Billy Parish of Green For All’s Energy Action Coalition; Sally Prouty of the Corps Network; Joel Rogers of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy; The Center for State Innovation; Gene Sofer of the Susquehan- na Group; Lisbeth Shepherd of Green For All; and Susan Stroud of Innovations in Civic Participation.

greeneconomy Green Ideas cases impossible, to offshore. No one will ship a building from Chi- Green-Collar Jobs cago to be retrofitted in China. The To give meaning to the concept energy-efficiency industry provides of an inclusive green economy, we perhaps the most exciting opportu- will need to establish concrete and nity. Substantially reducing energy specific mechanisms for ensuring waste through systematic retrofit- equal protection and opportunity ting and upgrading of residential in our climate and energy policies. and commercial buildings is one We must do this, in part, through way to bring environmental and signature proposals that capture equity policy together, and create the imagination and propel the good jobs in plentiful numbers. The hope of millions. work requires a multi-skilled, local We can start by building on an workforce, and it feeds a building- idea and term that has already materials industry that is still largely captured the nation’s imagination domestic. – green-collar jobs. There is enor- Bringing green-collar jobs to mous potential to use public policy scale requires changing the rules of to catalyze the creation of millions the game in our national economy. of green-collar jobs – well-paid, And this brings us back to climate career track jobs that preserve or protection policy. A system that enhance environmental quality – places an economy-wide cap on and to expand opportunities for GHG emissions, selling permits to the many Americans who have too polluters, would end the most de- few of them in our current econ- structive market failure in America’s omy. Fighting climate change by economic history: the ability of investing in green economic growth industries to pay no cost for baking and opportunity is more than a the global commons to the brink of nice idea; it’s happening in regional catastrophe. economies around the country and In so doing, it would provide holds the promise of significant job a powerful price incentive to the creation if brought to scale. nation’s economic actors – from A large part of this promise is manufacturers to utilities, from home based on the fact that green-collar builders to cities – to use renewable jobs are location-dependent: be- rather than fossil fuel sources for cause they focus on transforming energy and to pursue greater energy the immediate natural and built en- efficiencies wherever possible. vironment, they are harder, in some

greeneconomy 39 Clean Energy Corps good policy, on the one hand, and self-financing and would create of voluntary national service and Price signals alone won’t be good politics, on the other. In order local jobs and reduce greenhouse support a stronger national effort enough. The transformation to to do so, we must put forward a gas emissions on a vast scale. The in this area. Young adults of the a just and sustainable economic bold and simple proposal for mas- CEC would work with a wide array “greenest generation” are already future will require targeted invest- sive green opportunities that cap- of employers, community organi- volunteering in record numbers ments in research and develop- tures the imagination and propels zations, educational institutions and would welcome the opportuni- ment, technology deployment, the hopes of millions of Americans. and unions to connect working ty to serve the nation in combating transition assistance to workers To that end, Green For All and its families to high-quality, career track climate change; so will a generation and consumers, and economic and allies are developing a proposal for green-collar jobs in the emerging of skilled baby boomers looking for workforce development strate- a national Clean Energy Corps. We clean energy economy. It would useful activities in their retirement. gies that maximize green-collar job envision the CEC as a combined specifically seek to develop “green Blue-collar workers –- particularly creation and direct jobs and job service, training, and job creation pathways out of poverty” for low- those left on the bench by a stalled training to those who need those effort, concentrated in cities and income and unemployed people, construction industry -- are looking opportunities most. struggling suburban and rural com- providing them the training, work for a chance to apply their skills to A cap and trade system would munities, and designed to combat experience, job placement, and green-collar work that rebuilds our provide a new source of public global warming, grow local and re- other services needed to gain nation. revenue (tens to hundreds of bil- gional economies, and demonstrate family-supporting jobs within that Low-income communities are lions of dollars annually generated the equity and employment prom- economy. And it would directly also keenly aware of the economic by the auction of permits ) to make ise of the clean energy economy. engage millions of Americans in promise of a clean energy econo- such investments. In 2009, when Over the course of a decade, diverse service and volunteer work my, and wish to be in on the ground we can expect a worsened budget The CEC would invest in the en- related to climate protection. floor of building it. A bold visible deficit and mounting pressure from ergy efficiency in buildings – which We believe the time is right for national effort like the CEC would pay-go spending rules, this will be account for 40 percent of national such an effort. Our ailing economy powerfully advance the national an invaluable and perhaps singular energy consumption – by creating needs a stimulus that is long-term, effort to stop global warming while source of public funds to create an financing mechanisms that would sustainable and focused on com- widening economic opportunity economy that works for our people put public and private capital to munities. The public urgently wants and active citizenship. Helping to and planet. work, covering up-front costs and action to promote clean energy and heal the planet, it would also help Money must be invested wisely, capturing the energy savings. This curb global warming. Americans heal the nation. in a manner that meets the test of part of the CEC program is largely overwhelmingly support the idea

greeneconomy In today’s America, family resources and background are an increasingly accurate guide to lifelong achievement. Economic origins matter more The Promise of Opportunity than we would like to imagine, and more, sadly, than they did in our Alan Jenkins parents’ and grandparents’ time. But race, national origin, and gender also matter independently of class. Even with income and educational Opportunity is one of America’s most deeply held values, and one of differences taken into account, for example, African-Americans and our most precious national assets. Throughout our history, Americans Latinos are less likely than other Americans to have regular and acces- have been stirred by the vision of a society in which everyone gets a sible health care. Irrespective of insurance status, people of color are fair shake regardless of origins or ancestry. That ideal has inspired social less likely to receive necessary medical procedures, and more likely to movements and political breakthroughs. Universal public education receive undesirable forms of treatment, such as limb amputations for developed our national genius and propelled millions out of poverty. diabetes. Emancipation, Reconstruction, and women’s suffrage acknowledged the equality and voice of all our people. Opportunity is not only declining but, by many measures, becoming more unequal. In the criminal justice arena, state incarceration rates In the 20th century, the New Deal’s assurance of basic economic secu- have gone up dramatically; the prison population has become more ra- rity put the nation back on a stable economic footing even as it enabled cially imbalanced at the same time. Juvenile justice outcomes are badly millions of Americans to move from destitution to economic participa- skewed. Young people of color are more likely to be placed in secure tion. The Civil Rights revolution led to legal safeguards that protected all juvenile facilities, while white youths stand a better chance of being sent Americans while integrating more millions into our economic engine and to private facilities or diverted from the juvenile system altogether. In social fabric. It would be wrong to idealize the past; obviously, we have 2006, three young people of color were in custody for every one white never fully realized the opportunity ideal. Nor have we fully overcome youth – and not because of differences in the severity of their offenses. the legacies of discrimination and exclusion. Nevertheless, in fits and (Two-thirds of all young people in custody were incarcerated for a starts over two centuries, this country was moving in a direction that nonviolent crime.) The same dynamics govern access to quality public gave hope to most Americans, including those who needed hope the most. schools, reputable banks and lenders, and even grocery stores and other sources of affordable, healthy food. In recent decades, however, our opportunity advance has largely stalled. The traditional stepping stones—a decent job at a living wage, affordable Research shows that these trends are due not to some change in the housing and health care, quality schools and a college education— have nature or drive of the American people, but to disinvestment in policies become more elusive and less secure. The 45.7 million Americans with- and systems that keep the doors to opportunity open. From the late out health insurance, and the many more who are underinsured, grapple 1940s until the 1970s, our country backed up its belief in opportunity daily with threats to their physical, family, and economic security. Ameri- with major policy initiatives, like the G.I. Bill, the Higher Education Act, cans working full time at the minimum wage cannot afford adequate the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act. These policies worked. market-rate rental housing in virtually any local housing market. One in They help explain why the postwar decades were a time of rising pros- every hundred adult males are warehoused in jails or prisons, generally perity and opportunity for Americans across the board, and a time when with little rehabilitation during their incarceration and daunting obsta- millions of women, people of color, and immigrants entered the econom- cles to economic and political participation after release. ic, political, and social mainstream.

opportunityaccess 41 What’s been in short supply since then isn’t discipline or effort - it’s national commitment. Opportunity doesn’t just happen, in other words. It takes bold leadership, innovative ideas, public investment, and shared as well as individual effort.

What’s been Americans are ready for a new opportunity agenda – one that moves us in short all forward while continuing to address the structural barriers faced by people of color, women, and others. The pillars of such a policy agenda supply hasn’t are easy to identify: health and health care, jobs and business, housing been and lending, education, and criminal justice. But a 21st century approach needs to reflect 21st century realities: globalization, migration, new tech- discipline or nology, and an increasingly diverse population have to be transformed effort - it’s from challenges into strengths. We need to proactively address subtle modern forms of racial, ethnic, class, and gender bias. New policies national must ensure more equitable investment in place—in neighborhoods commitment. and regions, not just cities and states—as an instrument of more broadly shared prosperity. Opportunity Expanding opportunity for this and future generations is crucial to our nation’s success, and must be a core responsibility of each presidential doesn’t just administration. It’s a mission that should permeate nearly everything happen. It government does, rather than being relegated to a discrete set of “op- portunity programs.” Energy policies, infrastructure policies, economic takes bold policies, health care policies, and criminal justice policies, among others, leadership, should all pass through the opportunity filter. Though the breadth and equality of opportunity in our nation is currently threatened, we have it public in our power to reinvent its promise for a new century. investment, Author and shared as Alan Jenkins is Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda, a communications, research, and advocacy organization with the mission well as indi- of building the national will to expand opportunity in America. He is vidual effort. co-editor, with Brian Smedley, of All Things Being Equal: Instigating Opportunity in an Inequitable Time. His previous positions include Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice; Direc- tor of Human Rights at the Ford Foundation; Associate Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Law Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun.

opportunityaccess Opportunity Ideas regulatory agencies. And there Impact Statements of underserved populations, cre- has never been a coordinated Agency leaders should work ate jobs accessible to the affected Starting Points federal monitoring or enforcement together to develop uniform regions, serve diverse linguistic One immediate step that a new strategy that spans their overlap- guidelines for Opportunity Impact and cultural communities, balance administration should take is to ping provisions and prioritizes Statements (OIS) as a standard necessary health and safety bur- make the expansion of opportunity opportunity. Regulations have part of the disbursement process. dens fairly across neighborhoods, an important and explicit consid- been enforced defensively and As with the environmental impact and foster integration over segre- eration in the funding of state and in isolation, if at all. The federal statements currently required gation. As in the case of environ- local programs. The federal gov- courts, moreover, have systemati- under the National Environmental mental impact statements, the OIS ernment distributes billions of dol- cally stripped Americans of the Policy Act, the relevant agency process will require public com- lars to state, municipal, and private right to enforce these provisions would require the submission of ment and participation, sometimes institutions for medical services, through litigation. And there are, information and collect and ana- including public hearings. highway construction, public hous- in any event, gaps in the coverage lyze relevant data to determine Both independently and ing, and law enforcement, among afforded by existing legislation. the positive and negative impacts through the input of affected in- other activities. Each of these ap- The Executive Branch has the of the proposed federally funded propriations holds the potential to authority on Day One to imple- project. Here, however, the in- expand or equalize opportunity, or ment a coordinated system for im- quiry would focus on the ways in to perpetuate or worsen existing plementation and enforcement of which the project would expand In 2006, three young patterns of inequality. those safeguards, as well as plac- or constrict opportunity in affect- people of color were A patchwork of federal statutes ing other conditions on the distri- ed geographic areas and whether in custody for every and regulations already offer the bution and receipt of federal funds the project would promote equal skeleton of a system that directs that expand opportunity. Either an opportunity or deepen patterns of one white youth – and federal funding toward the expan- interagency task force or a lead inequality. not because of differ- sion of opportunity. That skeleton agency should be designated for While the measures of op- includes, for example, provisions the coordination of opportunity portunity would differ in different ences in the severity of the Hill Burton and Medicaid expansion across federally funded circumstances, the inquiry would of their offenses. acts, various regulations of Title programs, potentially through the typically include whether the VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Department of Justice. Whatever project would create or eliminate and the Uniform Relocation Act. formulation is adopted, the entity jobs, expand or constrict access Two-thirds of all Broadly, these policies were will need staffing, resources, inves- to health care services, schools, designed to protect against overt tigative and enforcement authority and nutritious food stores, foster young people in discrimination and provide some adequate to implement its respon- or extinguish affordable housing custody were support for marginalized com- sibilities. and small business development. munities when affected by federal At the same time, the OIS would incarcerated for a legislation. But with few excep- assess the equity of the project’s nonviolent crime. tions, those provisions have not burdens and benefits, such as been enforced by the relevant whether it would serve a diversity

opportunityaccess 43 dividuals and groups, the relevant Opportunity Applied agencies would assess the exis- What would this process Americans are ready for a new tence and viability of alternative mean in the context of specific opportunity agenda – one that moves us all approaches with a more positive federally-funded projects in areas impact on opportunity. Where like health care or criminal jus- forward while continuing to address the needed, agencies would provide tice? In the health care context, structural barriers faced by people of color, technical assistance to states, consider state-level agency deci- municipalities, and other putative sions regarding the placement women, and others. fund recipients, strengthening their and certification of hospitals, as capacity to develop projects that well as the allocation of health expand opportunity, and to com- of explicit and accessible mecha- ing compliance with civil rights care resources and services. In nisms for ensuring opportunity. and other restrictions on federal ply with the Opportunity Impact every state, such agencies are the Statement process. In the criminal justice context, funding. Every agency has admin- recipient of federal funds through the U.S. Justice Department’s Of- istrative discretion in the method the Medicaid program and, typi- fice of Justice Programs currently of fulfilling its mission. And many cally, through myriad other federal supports a range of juvenile justice have significant experience in health programs. In a new admin- and adult corrections programs. providing guidance and technical istration, federal disbursement of In a new Administration, renewed assistance to fund applicants and such funds by the Department support for such programs should regulated entities. The federal of Health and Human Services be contingent upon an OIS pro- government’s authority under the should be dependent upon sub- cess that demonstrates the use Spending Clause of the Constitu- mission and consideration of of proven rehabilitative methods tion, moreover, extends beyond its Opportunity Impact Statements such as drug and alcohol treat- ordinary regulatory power, afford- showing how pending hospital ment, drug courts, educational and ing the Executive greater leeway certifications and related decisions supervised release programs. It in enforcing national policy. At will impact affected communities, should require explicit safeguards the same time, states and locali- in terms of availability and ade- against racially disparate treatment ties have the option of declining quacy of access, services, jobs and in charging, sentencing, and deten- federal funds, and, thereby, avoid- economic development. Affected tion. And it should inquire whether ing many of these requirements, if community members and groups young people in the system are they find them too burdensome. would be afforded the chance to being housed with adults or under Ultimately, it is the responsibility of provide input on each of these circumstances appropriate to their the federal government to ensure dimensions. HHS would conduct a age. Here again, technical assis- that its investments expand op- thorough analysis of relevant data, tance is critical. portunity, and the choice of state and the funding applicant would Each of these functions is well and local entities whether to seek have an opportunity to make its within the role and capacity of those investments. own case. Particularly relevant federal agencies, each of which would be the applicant’s showing is already responsible for ensur-

opportunityaccess The overwhelming majority of Americans still see themselves as middle class. But most also feel the effects of our frayed social contract. It A Strengthened Middle Class has become more difficult to maintain a middle-class standard of living, Andrea Batista Schlesinger and Amy Traub Americans say. It is easier to fall behind.

America did not ask to be divided into warring camps of red and blue. The middle-class squeeze, as it has come to be known, is partly a matter Across the country, people have far more in common than anyone of paychecks and prices. Gasoline and food have been the big sources would guess from the polarized politics of recent decades. Most Ameri- of sticker shock lately. Over the longer term, costs for health care, cans hope to achieve and hold onto a middle-class standard of living. housing, and higher education – the very goods that define a middle- That means, among other things, a job that pays enough to support a class standard of living – have skyrocketed. Rising costs wouldn’t be family; a safe and stable home; good schools for our children and the such a problem, of course, if middle-class incomes had kept pace. By chance to help them go to college; health care that doesn’t bury us in and large, they haven’t. Since the recession of 2001, corporate profits debt; a dignified retirement; and time off work for vacations and major have soared, while median household income has not even returned to life events. where it was in 1999.

The weak union movement is one major reason We want these things not only for ourselves but We want these things not for one another, because a large and stable middle why incomes have stagnated. Today, employees class turns out to be the foundation of our wellbe- only for ourselves but for simply don’t have enough power in the labor mar- ing as families, as communities, and as a nation. one another, because a ket to demand that their incomes keep pace with the rising cost of living. Middle-class societies, as political thinkers from large and stable middle Aristotle to Thomas Jefferson have pointed out, are more socially cohesive than those divided by class turns out to be the So Americans have tried other strategies to make extremes of wealth and poverty. Concentrations foundation of our wellbeing ends meet. People have worked longer hours and sent more family members into the workforce. of wealth threaten to turn economic power into as families, as communities, political power and subvert democratic institutions. Americans are saving less and borrowing more. Poverty and economic insecurity leave people too and as a nation. Thanks to the combination of a home-equity caught up in their day-to-day struggles to engage loan binge and a deregulated mortgage market, with public and community affairs. America faces an epidemic of foreclosures, and nearly 10 percent of homeowners are in the scary position of owing The American middle class did not arise by accident. After World War more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. As debt grows, II, businesses, workers, and government forged a social contract that stress grows: In today’s economy, one serious illness or the loss of a job helped bring about an era of unprecedented growth and the rise of a can be enough to send a middle-class family tumbling into poverty or middle class that was the envy of the world. Since the 1970s, our social bankruptcy. contract has eroded. Fewer jobs provide health insurance, and the coverage is often riddled with gaps. Reliable pension plans have become Diminished job security plays a large part in the increasingly precarious rare. In the absence of a strong labor movement, employers play fast equation of middle-class life. Under intensified competition, businesses and loose with hard-won worker rights. have resorted to mass layoffs to cut costs. The most recent economic

workingfamilies 45 recovery produced relatively few jobs, making it harder for the dis- Authors placed to find new work. When middle-class employees lose jobs, often through no fault of their own, they encounter an outdated and porous Andrea Batista Schlesinger is safety net. It’s easy to become unemployed but far harder to qualify for Executive Director of the Drum unemployment insurance. Nationally, just 36 percent of unemployed Major Institute. Since 2002, workers are covered. In many states, benefits replace only a small pro- Andrea has worked to make portion of middle-class salaries. DMI a policy think tank with na- tional impact, issuing important Layoffs are far from the only source of added economic volatility. The research on the middle class Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, was intended to provide squeeze and immigration, and some security for families facing another kind of instability – a sudden building the premier archive of illness or a new child. The law guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to model progressive policy. An- Americans at companies with 50 or more employees. The FMLA is one drea is on the editorial board of of the nation’s few policies to recognize that middle-class households in- The Nation and has been pro- creasingly depend on the paycheck of every adult; many of these work- filed in The New York Times and ers also have family responsibilities. Two-thirds of families with children The New Yorker. Andrea studied have all their adults in the workforce. One in five American adults is a Public Policy at the University of caregiver for another adult. Chicago.

But the FMLA is severely limited. Because of restrictions on coverage, Amy Traub is Director of Re- nearly half of working Americans receive no protection from the FMLA. search at the Drum Major Many who are covered still cannot afford to take unpaid time off and Institute for Public Policy (DMI), miss a paycheck. Despite this landmark legislation, millions of middle- a non-partisan, non-profit think class families have to make the awful choice between family health tank generating ideas that fuel needs and job security. the progressive movement. She is the author of more than a Too often, politicians offer tax cuts as the answer to middle-class eco- dozen policy reports, including nomic woes. But tax cuts fail to address the fundamental problems: “Principles for an Immigration economic insecurity, jobs that don’t support a middle class standard of Policy to Strengthen and Expand living, work arrangements based on the outdated assumption of a stay- the American Middle Class.” at-home spouse acting as caregiver. Middle-class families aren’t look- Prior to her work at DMI, she ing for a handout. What we need are fair rules and public policies that headed the research depart- provide the means to maintain a middle-class standard of living. When ment of a major New York City the middle-class fundamentals are within reach of most of us, we are all labor union. She holds an MA in better off economically, culturally, and democratically. political science from Columbia University and lives in Manhat- tan with her husband and son.

workingfamilies Working Ideas one anti-union meetings with their the bill “will allow workers to once Paid Leave supervisors, and engage in surveil- again choose to form unions with- What do Liberia, Papua New The Employee Free Choice Act lance, intimidation and harassment. out the fear of being fired.” Guinea, Swaziland, and the United In the 1950s, more than a third Faced with a union organizing EFCA is about more than States have in common? They and of American workers held a union drive, more than half of all employ- growing the union ranks. By mak- we belong to the small community card. By negotiating for higher ers threaten to close down a facil- ing it easier for Americans to join of nations without a law guaran- wages and better working condi- ity if the union wins. One in four unions and bargain, the law would teeing some form of paid leave tions, unions transformed “bad” companies fire workers involved strengthen the ability of all work- for new parents. It’s time for the jobs on manufacturing assembly in union activity. These practices ing people to negotiate a better U.S. to join the longer list of (at last lines into the “good” middle-class are plainly illegal, but because of deal. Professionals, temporary and count) 169 countries that believe it jobs we worry about losing to sluggish enforcement and slap-on- contingent workers, service-sector is wrong to leave workers alone to globalization today. Unions helped the-wrist penalties, increasingly employees, and other groups that cope with this momentous event. make health insurance and pen- routine. have not tradition- Most families today need every sion benefits part of the employ- The Employee ally been unionized adult in the paid workforce. To ment package for tens of millions Free Choice Act could be among the deal with that reality, America of Americans in the postwar era. (EFCA), which biggest beneficia- needs a paid leave program not Union members still earn sig- passed the U.S. ries. According to just for new parents but also for nificantly more money and have House of Rep- one conservative employees dealing with a long better health, retirement and other resentatives in estimate, EFCA personal or family illness. benefits than comparable non- 2007 before could help bring Several states have already unionized workers. Yet today, after being killed by employer-based taken steps: California, New Jer- decades of decline, only about 12 a Senate filibuster, streamlines health insurance to an estimated sey, and Washington have passed percent of U.S. employees – and procedures for employees to de- 3.5 million more Americans, and laws guaranteeing paid leave for a truly minuscule 7.5 percent of cide on union representation and pension benefits to 2.8 million personal or family illness and private-sector workers – belong to bargain a first contract. Under its more. Similar gains can be ex- welcoming a new child. New York unions. “majority sign up” process, a union pected in vacation time, wages, and Rhode Island have state dis- The anti-labor stance of the is automatically recognized in a and other union benefits. Strong ability insurance systems that help National Labor Relations Board workplace when more than half of union contracts would raise stan- employees take time off to ad- has played a significant part in this employees sign cards requesting dards for entire industries, improv- dress their own health problems. decline, undermining the ability representation. The bill establishes ing the lot of non-union workers as A federal program providing paid of workers to organize and bar- a process of mediation and bind- well. By restoring workers’ power family and medical leave would gain collectively. Companies feel ing arbitration if the employer and to band together and improve help middle-class families face a free to ignore many of the rules new union are unable to reach their own lives, EFCA will catalyze range of major life events with less that theoretically remain in place. agreement on an initial contract. changes in living standards and job risk of losing a job or taking on Today’s employers regularly hire It sets meaningful penalties for quality, providing untold power to debilitating levels of debt. “union avoidance” consultants, violating labor laws. In the succinct strengthen and expand the Ameri- The Family Leave Insurance force employees to attend one-on- words of American Rights at Work, can middle class. Act, introduced in the U.S. House

workingfamilies 47 of Representatives by Rep. Pete come a new family member, paid caps on maximum benefits so that a state’s total number of unem- Stark, would help provide this se- family and medical leave recog- long-term unemployed workers get ployed workers so that ben- curity. The bill establishes an insur- nizes that a middle-class standard at least the full 26 weeks of ben- efits are automatically extended ance fund financed by employer of living requires both a steady in- efits in addition to other reforms. without the need for temporary and employee contributions equal come and time for working people According to an analysis by the emergency programs. Providing to 0.2 percent of annual earnings; to care for themselves and each National Employment Law Project, extended benefits not only helps businesses with fewer than 20 other. Providing this guarantee is the bill would provide improved those laid off from their jobs but workers could opt out of the pro- essential to strengthening the na- retraining and job-networking ser- also prevents further job loss: gram or choose to make a smaller tion’s middle class. vices for more than 500,000 work- families hit by unemployment tend contribution. The fund would ers a year. Congress should also to spend their benefits quickly, cover up to twelve weeks of paid Reforming go beyond this bill by encouraging getting money into circulation in leave per year for employees to Unemployment Insurance states to raise their maximum ben- their local economies immediately. care for a new child or a seriously efit levels to a rate that will enable A steady job is the cornerstone Families are thrown into turmoil ill family member, or to recuper- unemployed middle-class workers of a middle-class standard of living. when an income-earner sud- ate from a serious health condition to stay out of poverty while they When working people become denly loses a job; savings dwindle, of their own. Leave could also be look for work. unemployed, they risk falling out of household budgets constrict, and used for emergencies that arise The Extended Benefits program, the middle class entirely. Strength- economic security evaporates. from a military deployment. Lower- designed to provide additional ening the unemployment insur- When unemployment becomes income workers would receive weeks of unemployment benefits ance safety net would help those widespread, this wrenching dislo- their full paycheck while on leave; during recessions, should adopt who lose this critical support to cation can threaten entire commu- others would get a reduced por- a new trigger formula based on regain their footing. nities. For millions of middle-class tion of their usual earnings. The families, the joint federal-state bill bans discrimination or retalia- unemployment insurance system tion against employees that make offers the only protection. Yet the use of its provisions. All full-time California, New Jersey, and Washington system is crucially flawed. employees who have paid into the have passed laws guaranteeing paid The Unemployment Insurance fund for at least six months would leave for personal or family illness, and Modernization Act, introduced in be eligible for approved leave. both the U.S. House and Senate in for welcoming a new child. States with a more comprehensive 2007, would address many of the paid leave program could opt out, gaps. The bill uses $7 billion from A federal program providing paid as could employers that choose to the federal unemployment trust offer more generous leave. The bill family and medical leave would funds to encourage states to re- could be improved by providing help working families face a form their unemployment systems leave to part-time workers as well. range of major life events by making it easier for workers By ensuring that individuals and seeking part-time work to qualify, without risk of job loss families can afford to take the time providing additional resources or undue debt. to recuperate from illness or wel- for job training, and raising the

workingfamilies

49 the progressive ideas network

The Campaign for America’s Future is a center for issue advocacy, communications, and coalition-building to forge a new American majority for progressive reform. The Campaign is shaping forward-looking alliances around strategic policy initiatives to produce expanded economic opportunity, social justice, a healthy environment, and a more democratic society. The Institute for America’s Future (IAF) is an “action institute” conducting educational and research activities designed to empower citizens to shape the de- bate about our country’s economic future.

The Center for Community Change (CCC) is a progressive 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1968 by the Robert F. Kennedy Memo- rial and leaders of the civil rights and labor movements to be a living memorial to Senator Kennedy’s belief in community-based or- ganizing as the best means to create sustainable positive change in the lives of America’s poor. The Center’s mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, particularly people of color, to change the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most impor- tant economic and social issues that affect people’s lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options.

The Commonweal Institute is a non-partisan alliance of independent thinkers leading conversations in media outlets and social networks about our shared values as Americans and progressive approaches to solving problems. We envision a society in which the advancement of human rights, civil liberties, participatory democracy, justice, strong and caring communities, and a more secure and sustainable future coexist with responsible global capitalism. Our goal is to engage all segments of society in the discovery and creation of a new harmony between private interests and the common good.

The Commonwealth Institute has programs in progressive approaches to national security, citizen action against climate change, and the study of progressive political strategy. The largest and longest running program is the Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA); PDA’s work is premised on the belief that policy innovation can overcome the practical obstacles to progress toward more coop- erative security postures -- however, it sees the prerequisite of innovation to be a close and critical engagement in the mainstream security policy debate. The Commonwealth Institute is an independent, nongovernmental public policy research center founded in 1987 and located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

The Center on Wisconsin Strategy is a national policy center and field laboratory for high-road capitalism — a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government. COWS’ work is experimental and evidence-driven. Collaborating with business, government, labor, and communities, we try out new ideas, test their effectiveness, and disseminate those with promise. COWS, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, educational and charitable organization funded by foundation and individual gifts and grants and technical assistance contracts.

Demos is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization. Headquartered in New York City, Demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country in pursuit of four overarching goals: a more equitable economy; a vibrant and inclu- sive democracy; an empowered public sector that works for the common good; and responsible U.S. engagement in an interdepen- dent world. the progressive ideas network

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank generating the ideas that fuel the progressive movement. From releasing nationally recognized studies of our increasingly fragile middle class to showcasing progressive policies that have worked to advance social and economic justice, DMI has been on the leading edge of the public policy debate. Founded during the civil rights movement, DMI equips those on the front lines with the tools to more effectively advance an agenda of social and economic justice, including research, model policies, policy-driven Web sites, and even young talent.

The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. It was established in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. Today, with global competition expanding, wage inequality rising, and the nature of work changing in fundamental ways, it is critical for these interests to be represented in the economic debate. With a staff of PhD economists, EPI adheres to strict standards of sound, objective research and analysis, and couples its findings with outreach and popular education.

Grassroots Policy Project, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, brings political and social movement theory into practice by mining the best ideas from social and political sciences, as well as from movement history, applying these ideas to actual organizing –– base-building, coalition-building, campaign and electoral work. We bring our framework about power, worldview and strategy into our workshops and trainings with groups. GPP stays connected to groups over a long period of time, so that the implementation, evaluation and reflection phases are built-in to all of our programs on worldview and strategy development.

Green For All is a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of pov- erty. By advocating for local, state and federal commitments to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy – especially for people from disadvantaged communities – Green For All fights both poverty and pollution at the same time.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. IATP was founded in 1986 to analyze the root causes of the farm crisis and advocate for policies that support family farmers, rural communities, consumers and the environment. IATP works to integrate sustainability throughout the entire food and farm system, from supporting family farmers and the environment to ensuring that everyone has access to healthy food.

The Institute for Policy Studies turns ideas into action for peace, justice and the environment. We strengthen social movements with independent research, visionary thinking, and links to the grassroots, scholars and elected officials. (www.ips-dc.org)

The Jamestown Project is a diverse action-oriented think tank of new leaders who reach across boundaries and generations to make democracy real. Founded and operated primarily by people of color and women, The Jamestown Project consists of schol- ars, activists, and communities who use five broad strategies to achieve our mission: generating new ideas; promoting meaningful public conversations and engagement; cultivating new leaders; formulating political strategy and public policy; and using cutting- edge communications techniques that reach a broad public. 51 the progressive ideas network

New Vision: An Institute for Policy and Progress is a national network of both young and established scholars who are committed to charting the next generation of domestic progressive public policy. We focus on setting the agenda rather than reacting to it, and we provide politically-relevant products without compromising analytical rigor. By building a bridge between academia and policy, New Vision is creating viable career paths for young scholars interested in work relevant to public policy. We are a critical element of the movement aimed at rejuvenating the role of ideas in progressive politics.

The Opportunity Agenda was founded in 2004 with the mission of building the national will to expand opportunity in America. Focused on moving hearts, minds and policy over time, the organization works closely with social justice organizations, leaders, and movements to advocate for solutions that expand opportunity for everyone. Through active partnerships, The Opportunity Agenda uses communications and media to understand and influence public opinion; synthesizes and translates research on barriers to op- portunity and promising solutions; and identifies and advocates for policies that improve people’s lives.

The Progressive States Network was founded in 2005 to drive public policy debates and change the political landscape in the United States, by focusing on attainable, progressive state actions. The Progressive States Network advances this agenda by providing coordinated research and strategic advocacy tools to forward-thinking state policymakers, legislative staff, and non-profit organizations. We function as a meeting space for progressive legislators, activists, and citizens, and serve as a hotbed of informa- tion exchange. We track legislation in all 50 states, helping to spark change across the country.

Redefining Progress is a nonprofit policy institute that to works to balance economic well-being, environmental health, and social justice. Our initiatives address pressing environmental concerns such as global climate change and natural resource depletion while ensuring that both the burdens and the benefits of these policies are shared equally among affected communities. We prepare unbiased research about how economic policies and business practices affect people’s lives and create innovative tools such as the Ecological Footprint and the Genuine Progress Indicator that help governments, businesses, and individuals measure their impact on the environment and society.

The Roosevelt Institution is a students’ policy organization whose mission is to build a more progressive society. Roosevelt gener- ates ideas and implements policy through a network of 7,000 students and 75 chapters on college campuses around the country. In the process of researching, writing, and organizing, we: educate ourselves about the political process; engage policymakers, inform public discourse and support activists; and prepare ourselves for a future of leadership and action. We are supported in our work by our parent organization, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of their namesakes for future generations.

Sightline Institute is a not-for-profit research and communication center — a think tank — based in Seattle. Founded in 1993 by Alan Durning, Sightline’s mission is to bring about sustainability, a healthy, lasting prosperity grounded in place. Our focus is Cascadia, or the Pacific Northwest. It’s a slow-motion revolution, but it’s happening. Since 1993, we’ve equipped Northwesterners with the research and tools they need to make progress on a range of solutions, from banning toxic chemicals that have shown up in our food and our bodies to defeating ruinous land-use ballot measures across the Northwest in 2006 and 2007. Nonpartisan and wholly independent, Sightline’s only ideology is commitment to the shared values of community, fairness, responsibility, and opportunity. Copyright © Progressive Ideas Network, 2008 All rights reserved

The views and opinions expressed in this volume do not reflect the organizations named herein and are the sole responsibility of the individual authors.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the Progressive Ideas Network.

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Edited by James Lardner Coordinated by Nathaniel Loewentheil

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Endnotes This volume both explicitly and implicitly references several studies, statistics, and other sources of information. A complete set of these references is available online at newprogressivevoices.org. The full text of New Progressive Voices is freely available via newprogressivevoices.org.

Questions and media inquiries about New Progressive Voices can be sent to Nathaniel Loewentheil The Roosevelt Institution 2100 M St NW, Ste. 610 Washington, DC 20037 (202) 833-1359 and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless bank- ing, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own af- fairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by orga- nized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me, and I welcome their hatred. I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administra- tion that in it these forces met their master. FDR, Madison Square Garden, 31 October 1936