War on the Poor

With the seating of Carte Goodwin, West Virginia's new senator, and crossover Republicans Collins and Snowe, the Senate finally passed a bill extending unemployment benefits.  What is remarkable to me is not that the despicable Republican minority would rather see people starve then pass legislation that makes social and economic sense -- that is to be expected.  What is remarkable is the complacency with which we have accepted an unemployment rate of 9.5%.  And this figure does not measure underemployed, distressed, and underemployed Americans.  That figure has been estimated as 20% of the workforce.


At the same time unemployment has been rising, so have corporate profits, hence the term "jobless recovery."  Meanwhile, the gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else continues to grow; one recent study shows that the gap in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and everyone else is the highest it's been in 80 years, with the gap tripling in the past three decades.  CBPP study.  The study points out that one recent reason for the increase is that the Bush tax cuts benefited the top 1%, with the top earners getting the lion's share of the tax cut benefits.

Amazingly, Republicans are pushing for extending the Bush tax cuts at the same time they are pushing against extending unemployment insurance.  It's hard to say how this is anything but a declaration of class warfare:  keep the cuts that benefit the wealthiest Americans, and screw those who need help the most.  Even the venerable Alan Greenspan thinks that the Bush tax cuts should lapse, and not be extended.  Greenspan comments.  Unlike the tax cuts, extending unemployment benefits is generally accepted as a stimulus to the economy.  The cynic in me says that the only reason the Republicans are opposed to something that will ease suffering and is good for the economy is that they want to keep unemployment high through November to help their electoral chances.

Our bland acceptance of high unemployment and underemployment, the growing gap between rich and everyone else, and the shrinking middle class is exactly the thing that will prevent any meaningful change in our social policies.  The times of progressive policy in this country has come during times of social unease, rioting in the streets, and revolution in the air.  Think of the 30s, when there were sit-down strikes, violent encounters with the police, and active Communist organizers.  Or the 60s, when the streets were on fire and millions marched on Washington.  Major legislation was passed in those decades that benefited all Americans.  Compare that to now, when people are mostly concerned over the latest dance star, sports, and which C-list celebrity is getting kicked off which island.  Until we turn our attention elsewhere, it is likely that the status quo will continue.