On Poverty: If It’s Sunday, It’s Myths in the Press
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/03-5
James Wilsons January 29 op-ed in the Washington PostAngry about inequality? Dont blame the richis oh so polite, and oh so offensive, as it peddles myth after myth that essentially add up to this: the poor have no one but themselves to blame, theyre not that poor anyway, and taxing rich people wont help them.
Wilson argues that for the poor to rise we must encourage parental marriage and induce them to join the legitimate workforce. He points out that the poor have things like plumbing and heat, a telephone, a television set, and a clothes dryer, and there are fewer malnourished children. He says improving low-income mobility has nothing to do with taxing the rich and the problem facing the poor is not too little money.
Hes right, there are fewer malnourished children and less substandard housinglargely because of public policy, which costs money, says Georgetown University law professor Peter Edelman, who accompanied Senator Robert Kennedy on his poverty tour as an aide and is author of a forthcoming book, So Rich, So Poor. Food stamps, Medicaid, housing vouchers, energy assistancethey all require resources, and theyve all faced cuts.
Wilson says ultimately the plight of the poor is about too few skills and opportunities to advance themselves.
As though the hundreds of billions in high-income tax breaks couldnt serve some useful purpose in that regardfor education, child care, subsidized jobs, infrastructure investment that would create jobs, says Debbie Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs.