Wednesday
Mar252009
Chairman Obey: A rising tide has raised only all yachts
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 3:44PM
by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“Loosely speaking, rich dumb kids are more likely to make it through college than poor smart kids, and that’s telling you that we are a society in which whatever we may like to imagine we are not a society that has anything like equality of opportunity,” said Paul Krugman, a Professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University and Nobel Prize-winner.
Today at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services hearing, witnesses expressed their thoughts on the economy, healthcare and inequality. Krugman said that one major reason why a growing economy has failed to deliver to ordinary Americans is because of inequality. “Many of the gains in income went to a small minority of very well-off people, with most workers seeing little rise in real wage,” he said. Krugman said that the secondary reason for the failure of economic growth is the dysfunctional health care system. “We are unique among advanced countries in not having some form of universal coverage, yet we spend far more to cover 85 percent of our population than our counterparts spend to cover everyone, with no evidence that we receive correspondingly better care,” Krugman said.
Keith Hall, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had something different to say about healthcare. Hall said that since the start of the recession in December 2007, 4.4. million payroll jobs have been lost, and the unemployment rate has increased from 4.9 to 8.1 percent. But Hall said “employment has grown only in healthcare, private education, and government.”
“We first need to measure the stimulus package against the current needs of the economy.... The package as it now stands is mitigating. It’s not even enough to prevent us from having a very severe recession.... If we respond to concern about the size of the package by scaling back other government spending we’re undoing the effects of the stimulus package, making it even more inadequate,” concluded Krugman.
Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) concluded the hearing by stating that he believes that we can strengthen the safety net for those who aren’t doing well in the economy through actions like universal healthcare and pension protection. “The problem is that it has been said by others in the past, at some times in our recent history it appears that a rising tide has raised only all yachts.”
“Loosely speaking, rich dumb kids are more likely to make it through college than poor smart kids, and that’s telling you that we are a society in which whatever we may like to imagine we are not a society that has anything like equality of opportunity,” said Paul Krugman, a Professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University and Nobel Prize-winner.
Today at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services hearing, witnesses expressed their thoughts on the economy, healthcare and inequality. Krugman said that one major reason why a growing economy has failed to deliver to ordinary Americans is because of inequality. “Many of the gains in income went to a small minority of very well-off people, with most workers seeing little rise in real wage,” he said. Krugman said that the secondary reason for the failure of economic growth is the dysfunctional health care system. “We are unique among advanced countries in not having some form of universal coverage, yet we spend far more to cover 85 percent of our population than our counterparts spend to cover everyone, with no evidence that we receive correspondingly better care,” Krugman said.
Keith Hall, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had something different to say about healthcare. Hall said that since the start of the recession in December 2007, 4.4. million payroll jobs have been lost, and the unemployment rate has increased from 4.9 to 8.1 percent. But Hall said “employment has grown only in healthcare, private education, and government.”
“We first need to measure the stimulus package against the current needs of the economy.... The package as it now stands is mitigating. It’s not even enough to prevent us from having a very severe recession.... If we respond to concern about the size of the package by scaling back other government spending we’re undoing the effects of the stimulus package, making it even more inadequate,” concluded Krugman.
Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) concluded the hearing by stating that he believes that we can strengthen the safety net for those who aren’t doing well in the economy through actions like universal healthcare and pension protection. “The problem is that it has been said by others in the past, at some times in our recent history it appears that a rising tide has raised only all yachts.”
Blueprints Drawn Up for 2010 International Affairs Budget
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the proposed international affairs budget is a “major investment” as she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday. Clinton said in her opening statement that President Obama’s 2010 budget request for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development is $48.6 billion.
Clinton explained that she knew what a significant request and said, “We know that this request comes when some agencies are experiencing cutbacks. But it is an indication of the critical role the State Department must play to help advance our nation’s interests, safeguard our security, and make us a positive force for progress worldwide.”
Clinton offered a description of how the State Department and the USAID should exercise their global leadership effectively. The description included the “three D’s” that she said must be harnessed. The “three D’s” are diplomacy development and defense according to Clinton.
There are many issues that the State Department and the USAID are currently dealing with and Clinton said, “We need good people and we need enough of them.” According to Clinton’s opening statement, that is why the 2010 budget request includes $283 million to accommodate the hiring of over 740 new Foreign Service personnel. This increase in the budget coincides with the President’s promise of expanding the Foreign Service.
Clinton said the State Department and the USAID will have the opportunity to use “smart power to implement smart policies.” The top three priorities of focus are: urgent challenges and regions of concern,including Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq, and the Middle East; transnational challenges; and development assistance.
Clinton closed her opening statement by saying to Committee Chairman John Kerry, “Mr. Chairman, we’re pursuing all of these policies because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is the smart thing to do. No country benefits more than the United States when there is greater security, democracy, and opportunity in the world.”