On It Has to be Game Changing: Robert Kuttner, is a co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute and the editor of the American Prospect Magazine. He is both pro-union and pro-labor. One of his latest essays is titled “Liberals Need to Be Radicals” (https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-04-liberals-need-to-be-radicals/). It was a call for upping the game in a second Biden term. Yet his “radical” agenda struck me as both mild and missing the importance of a broad vision.
Kuttner proposed tuition-free college at public institutions, a single-payer universal health care system, creating a “second-tier” of Social Security that would provide a livable pension, government-subsidized affordable housing for first time home buyers (assisted by student loan relief), and more investment in mass transit. While Kuttner is correct, that these issues all need attention, they strike me as nibbling around the edges of our core problems.
Our nation has built in some structural problems within our political system that keep people like Robert Kuttner from dreaming bigger. Yet without those fundamental changes, nibbling is all that will get done.
MONEY IN POLITICS: The fact is that there’s too much money required to participate in our political leadership contests. Witness both political Presidential candidates competing for bragging rights on who held the biggest single fund-raiser (both allegedly hauled in tens of millions). Each of those big dollar donors know they purchased at least “influence” if not outright limitations on candidates. There are a few leaders who can successfully run for office on “small dollar donations” Most must beg for money on a daily basis. To be blunt, the average American won’t get dick-shit unless we vastly reduce the need for private money in our elections system.
REVERSE THE GOUGING OF AMERICA: Related to the corruption of our political system is the advantages that the wealthy have purchased from our government. The list of pro-wealth provisions of just about every function of government, has the people of our nation revisiting the income disparities of the Gilded Age. All the money is going to the top. Little is left for the common good. In fact, the average American is now subsidizing the ultra-wealthy with transfers of trillions of our tax money into their tax breaks (put on a credit card for future repayment). They have further tightened their grip on us through weakened labor rights and deregulation of financial rules. A “radical” agenda must include a reversal of these acts of greed. That requires a fight with greed, to return more of the wealth that is earned by America’s producers, back into our pockets.
RETURN POWER TO WORKERS: Overall, as a friend sums things up, we need to “Raise Wages”. Get more money into average and poor people’s pockets so they can afford a decent life and take advantage of opportunities to grow and prosper A huge part of raising the wage is the rebalancing of power between workers and the boss. That means powerful unions. Even relatively mild labor law reform has been unable to find the votes needed to pass them in Congress. We need the kind of laws that close off all the delays, intimidation, interreference and corporate support that come down on workers seeking to organize and bargain effectively. Enhancing worker power directly, is a “radical” move in today’s politics.
GUARANTEE INCOME IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSISTION: Climate change proposals leave people justifiably fearful. In particular, the things we need to change to sustain our environment are seen as devastating to workers whose jobs are fossil-fuel related. Talking about a “just transition” is an empty promise. A “radical” agenda would declare that no American will lose income as a result of environmental changes we need to make, to return our planet to health. A flat guarantee to our workers that they will not pay the price, while the top tier profits.
LIFETIME AFFORDABLE EDUCATION: Then there is the issue of opportunity. The old joke that “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple”, points out the fact that people start out in life at different points on the life opportunity racetrack. If we want economic growth and social equity, we have to provide a hand-up to all Americans. This is good social policy. Just the other day a report came out that the Navy is having problems building our next generation of ships and submarines, for lack of skilled workers. Millions of jobs are open in this country for lack of qualified workers. We need a lifetime educational system for all Americans that will assure we use the talent we have, no matter what base they were born on. Again a “radical” idea that if you want to apply yourself, the tools will be there for you.
HONEST AND PROPERLY FUNDED EDUCATION FOR ALL: Among the very real challenges this nation faces is the quality of our educational systems. Kuttner points out the underfunding of our college and university systems and their failures as we have privatized them. But there is a deeper problem we are facing. The fundamental teaching of critical thinking skills and a broad understanding of history is under attack. Organized groups of “thought police” are successfully turning our schools into isolation chambers, where thinking is stifled, teachers are directed by non-educators and a false history is being promoted. This leads to misunderstandings of how and why things happen. That results in huge errors in both personal and social policies. Ignorance is not bliss. Since the rest of the world is not putting on rose colored glasses, they have a distinct advantage over us in making good decisions and better dealing with change. Not only do we need to put a hell of a lot more money into our schools, but we have to make sure they are honest institutions.
Kuttner is right that we need to assure old-age security and affordable and accessible health care. Those are bedrock requirements of any leading nation. What he avoids is that to do this we need to take back the savings that the corporations and wealthy have stopped contributing to those basic needs. Our experiment in handing the money over to private interests and waiting for them to do the responsible thing, has failed (again!). These assurances are also solid public policy. Retirees and those not burdened by outrageous medical bills, spend their money back into the economy, making is stronger. Healthy people, particularly kids, are essential to control disease, learn well and reduce the nations healthcare bill to boot. But again, this is a “radical” fight with the financial sector, private pension and healthcare industries that have bought out our political leadership.
I don’t fault Kuttner for the limits of his proposals. His purpose was to outline what he thinks is possible in the current political environment. Yet the appeal of the former President is the sense that he’s a wild card. Willing to break out of the box and shake things up. People are tired of incrementalism and are looking for the mouse who will stick its middle finger up at the descending hawk. In this political environment, “radical” has to be truly game changing.
ihg – 4-12-2024. If you like these commentaries, join my blog for free at: https://ikegittlen.substack.com/ and share. Let’s see what we can build together.
Very good read Ike.