Our big chance. . . .today!

Any way you cut it, as a nation, we now face a huge opportunity to strengthen our country, to include more neighbors, to prepare our grandchildren for what lies ahead.  President Biden's plan presents a very practical response to national issues.  His vision seeks to make America better and more prepared for competition in our shrinking world.  

The first half of the current opportunity has to do with physical infrastructure improvement and literal rebuilding--bridges, highways, lead-lined water pipes, climate change curtailment, railways, internet accessibility, etc. 

To build our national, social infrastructure by really investing in our people, consider these real, tangible, very doable strategies to share the opportunity of America to a wider segment of our people:

• Lower child care costs to no more than 7% of a household's income
• Expand parental leave benefits
• Two years of post high school community college costs
• Fully fund early childhood education
• Increase maximum allowed for Pell Grants
• Lower prescription costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate costs with big pharma
• Add vouchers for Medicare participants that cover vision, hearing and dental costs
• Expand Medicaid for the extremly impoverished
• Use tax credits and government financing to bolster affordable and resilient housing, supporting the construction or rehabilitation of more than two million homes
• Extend the Child Tax Credit expansion in the American Rescue Plan, providing 39 million households and nearly 90 percent of American children a major tax cut and cutting child poverty nearly in half
• Increase the Earned-Income Tax Credit from $543 to $1,502. This will benefit roughly 17 million low-wage workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and child care providers
• Aggressive jobs training program, including green jobs and education careers
• Invest in nutrition improvement by expanding SNAP benefits 
• Pay for it all with equitable tax reform that asks the very rich and U. S. corporations pay their fair share.  

An often overlooked fact of public investment in our people is that every dollar spent on our people moves quickly and completely back into the economy.  Nothing is lost, nor wasted as relates to economic stimulation and continuing growth.  

If adopted, this plan will assure the promise of America for generations.  It will cut poverty significantly. This plan will unite us as the benefits become obvious.  We can do better.  We can change for the better.  

Since 1970, I've been working on a daily basis with men, women and children caught up in the cruel reality of poverty and economic disadvantage.  Poor folks have been my very best teachers.  

One conclusion seems undeniable:  progress in our work to overcome the cruel,  negative impact of poverty on our neighbors will depend on a comprehensive, public, community strategy that bundles numerous assets and transfers them to the people closest to the problem, "the poor."

It is time to act and act boldly.  

How to build wealth at "the bottom" Part 3

To build wealth among low-income people we've got to get honest about a few critical elements of the U. S. economy today that call for reform.

We could increase the wealth/earning power of millions of low-income families by enacting comprehensive immigration reform.  Such reform would re-frame the entire security (i.e. "build a wall on the southern border) conversation.  Building on the work that has been done on border security; reform should create an efficient, user friendly, guest worker program; complete with green cards/swipe cards that would allow passage back and forth along the southern border as it is to the north. 

As millions of productive workers stepped into the light of the U. S. economy, wages would rise, taxes paid would increase, innovation would emerge and the economies on both sides of the border would expand.  Clearly, continuing refusal to strike a deal on comprehensive reform keeps wages artificially low and explains in large part why we've not been able to achieve a sane policy. 

To be sure, the benefit of a sub-culture that labors for extremely low wages can't be ignored.  The real worry today regarding reform has more to do with the security of our wallets than that of our neighbors who hide in the shadowy places of our economy. This must change.

Further, pathways to citizenship have never hurt our nation.  In fact, openness to immigrants all the way to the full national inclusion of citizenship is a hallmark of American national life and expectation. 

Wealth building at the bottom demands that we embrace policies that intentionally, methodically, and legally work against every expression of segregation in our national and community life.  Nationally, we need to be all shook up!  Inclusionary zoning laws (illegal in Texas) need to be applied across the nation, particularly in our metropolitan areas. 

Housing developers, education systems, health care providers, county and city governments that discriminate on the basis of race or class should be penalized severely.  Discrimination must not be tolerated by individuals, families, communities, states or the broader nation.  If we're honest, we will freely admit that discrimination continues to plague us. 

Faith communities need to step up and help us achieve a new, never before realized sensitivity to the negative forces accompanying discrimination directed toward others who don't seem life us, but in fact, are our brothers and sisters.  We must face the harsh truth that much of the poverty in our nation results from the poisonous dynamics of discrimination and prejudice in personal actions, as well as in public policy. 

A radical word, now all but forgotten. . .

Poverty Is Not the Problem

For Jesus, it is clear, poverty is not the problem; it is the solution. Until human beings learn to live in naked contact and direct simplicity and equality with each other, sharing all resources, there can be no solution to the misery of the human condition and no establishment of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ radical and paradoxical sense of who could and who could not enter the Kingdom is even more clearly illustrated by his famous praise of children.

Andrew Harvey
Source: Son of Man

Jobs: Bad news for Dallas County

The title caught my eye right off: "Sinking City" (DMagazine, December 2014, page 26. 

The opening felt familiar, but made my stomach hurt.  The report came from the City of Dallas' Office of Economic Development: 

"Dallas is a top 10 city for affluent residents, says a new study.  Overall wealth went up 23.8% between 2012 and 2013."

Been here before--most of the year digging into the facts of life in Dallas as a part of my assignment with the Mayor's Task Force on Poverty.  This sort of data is exactly what got our Mayor engaged, concerned and determined to work on the amazing challenges at the other end of our community's economic continuum. 

The Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas was "leading in the growth of high-net-worth individuals and wealth."

But, if you move away from the top and focus on jobs and wages for Dallas County, things don't seem so encouraging.  As a metropolitan statistical area, Dallas is the fourth largest in the nation.  Dallas County is part of this 13-county region, and is the largest of the counties.   Our region grew by 1.2 million people between 2000 and 2010. 

At the same time, Dallas County lost 215,230 jobs.  The article points out a shocking truth:  to lose that many jobs makes Dallas County almost a Detroit-type economic environment. 

During the same timeframe, surrounding counties posted big jobs gains:  Parker (+72%), Rockwall (78%), Denton (59%), Collin (51%). 

Wages in Dallas County rose by just a shade above 2%, or 9th from last among U. S. "urbanized counties."

Get this:  on jobs and wages, Dallas County is the 3rd worst performing county in the nation. 

Any idea which U. S. county is the worst performing on jobs and wages? 

Right! 

Wayne County, Michigan, home of Detroit. 

Dallas, we have a problem. 

Sorry, but cash trumps volunteers!

[Not surprising, but completely wrong headed!  Just like in the for-profit world, non-profits need funding/venture capital more than volunteers.]

Wealthy Say Volunteering, Not Money, Is Best Way to Help the Poor
By Maria Di Mento June 20, 2014

Nine in 10 wealthy Americans say they want to help close the income gap between the rich and the poor, according to a new study released today. But only 39 percent say donating money to charities that provide education and employment programs is the way to help the disadvantaged. Wealthy individuals put more stock in volunteering as a way to help the poor: Forty-eight percent said giving their time and talents to programs that aid the disadvantaged would help create a more level economy.

Even more of the survey’s respondents, 53 percent, think the way to create income equality is through job creation by starting or growing businesses, or by promoting business ownership and laws that reduce regulations and taxes for entrepreneurs. The survey found that women are taking a more active role in wealth planning and decision-making, and many have their own fortunes: Fifty-two percent of women in the study came into their marriages or relationships with financial holdings equal to or larger than those of their partners, something for fundraisers to keep in mind when cultivating gifts from wealthy couples.

The nationwide survey, conducted by U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, polled 680 Americans with investable assets of $3-million or more. Among other findings: One-third of women are the primary income earners or contribute equally to the wealth of their households. Three quarters of wealthy millennials (adults under age 35) consider the social and environmental impact of companies they invest in.

 Nearly 80 percent of well-off millennials believe socially conscious investing can help hold businesses and governments accountable for their actions.

Life Purpose?

Will someone please tell me what this means?

I'm not connecting to the images of labor, sacrifice, deeper meaning, danger, giants and even community that take us to an expensive sports car.

Educate me.

Last chance to lend a hand to our neighbors in 2013! Help us reach our goal!

Check in on our year-end fund drive right here!

We've one more day to break through our $1MM goal from November 1 to December 31!

Gifts of all sizes are gladly accepted and desperately needed!

Join our effort today!