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Title: What Government Can Do: Dealing With Poverty and Inequality (American Politics and Political Economy) by Benjamin I. Page, James R. Simmons ISBN: 0-226-64481-2 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A must read for concerned citizens.
Comment: This book is very informative about a whole range of social issues. Although it specifically deals with the American social scene it has an universal appeal. It dissects problems and situations like poverty, income inequality, lack of a fair electoral system, prevailing taxation policies, basic needs and "rights" of people, educational opportunities, homelessness, etc., and proposes possible solutions for them. This book dispels many myths associated with the poor and the needy. This book was a very agreeable experience for me and I will be promoting it among my friends. This detailed and thoroughly researched book will delight you if you are for Justice, Fairness and Equality. The book has a Reference section that is a treasure for progressive thinkers. Enjoy this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: The case for income redistribution
Comment: This book is for people who believe that greater economic equality is a good thing, and one that government should seek to achieve. This is, of course, a politically incorrect view -- government policy for the last two decades has increased economic inequality.
The authors make a relatively brief argument in favor of greater equality but it won't change anyone's mind. If you don't agree with that view now, don't waste your time with this book -- you'll hate it. The bulk of the book is devoted to an examination of programs, past and proposed, to accomplish this end. It's a book for policy wonks.
I found it somewhat dull. I guess I'm more interested in the "clash of ideas" than in the details of implementation. But two things stood out:
First, the authors point out that (false) claims of the impending "bankruptcy" of Social Security have been used to increase the Social Security tax to a level far above what is needed to pay benefits. The Social Security surplus -- over $100 billion a year -- has filled a large part of the hole in the general budget, which was created by the Reagan tax cuts. What we have done is substitute regressive Social Security taxes, which fall heaviest on the working poor, for progressive income taxes, the Reagan cuts having benefited mainly the wealthy.
Second, the authors point out that while the major social benefits programs spend relatively little on administration -- less than one percent for Social Security, for example, far less than any private pension plan -- the food stamp program costs about 12% to administer. They attribute this, and the 4% to 8% error rate, to the complexity of the eligibility rules, and suggest abolishing the means requirement, making food stamps available to all. This is not a new idea but it's a very good one -- Bill Gates would be delighted with his stamps, I'm sure. I wonder, though, after reading through descriptions of program after program, why we can't apply the same idea to the whole mess? Abolish the lot, and replace them with a guaranteed income for everyone. We could even tie it to community service -- Bill and I could then rake leaves in the park together!
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Title: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich ISBN: 0805063897 Publisher: Owl Books (NY) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation by Frances E. Lee, Bruce Ian Oppenheimer ISBN: 0226470067 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Price of Federalism by Paul E. Peterson ISBN: 0815770235 Publisher: Brookings Institution Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Marriage and Same-Sex Unions : A Debate by Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, William C. Duncan, David Orgon Coolidge ISBN: 027597653X Publisher: Praeger Publishers Pub. Date: 30 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Hard Choices, Easy Answers: Values, Information, and American Public Opinion by R. Michael Alvarez, John Brehm ISBN: 069109635X Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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