Operation 'Domestic Order'
Flynn, Raymond L.
Why do mayors like myself look to the White House and Congress for leadership in addressing urban problems? First, because the kinds of problems being addressed here are not local but...
...More than 33 million Americans--one out of seven live below the poverty line...
...Neighborhood crime-watch groups helped reduce Boston's once-frightening arson rate...
...The U.S...
...In the 1980s, public investment in the U.S...
...Someone who rents an apartment and is without hot water, how- ever, has two problems: the lack of hot water and the need to deal with an intermediary, the landlord, who may not be concerned about the provision of hot water, or any number of other amenities...
...More and more poor people are concentrated in our cities, while more of the new jobs are located in the suburbs, inaccessible by public transportation...
...The richest 1 percent of all Americans (those with average incomes of $549,000) now receive nearly as much income, after taxes, as the bottom 40 percent combined...
...Now we must start repairing our crumbling infrastructure of bridges, roads, and sewers...
...The existing hodge-podge of barriers to voter registration contributes to our scandalously low voter turnout, especially among young people, the poor, and minori- ties-precisely those citizens most in need of adequate repre- sentation...
...The president's call to conscience is welcome--but we are going to have to invest resources if we are to improve the nation's productivity and meet new economic competition...
...For too long, we've had welfare for the wealthy--the defense contractors, the savings-and-loan industry, big corporations, and the very rich--and crumbs for the rest...
...A few families are on welfare...
...Our education,job training, and human services efforts--all necessary to provide our work force with the skills needed if the U.S...
...The primary respon- sibility of a 7A administrator is to insure that all serious code violations are eliminated...
...They are not an aimless and disparate group...
...We need a partnership between Washington and the cities--fair federalism...
...Our campaign finance system hurts the same con- stituencies by greatly increasing the leverage of moneyed interests in our ever costlier election campaigns...
...neither singly nor in concert can they reverse it...
...here and across the country, citizen satis- faction with municipal government is relatively high...
...That requires tallying up the disastrous effects our distorted national priorities are inflicting on our economy and our people...
...Moreover, only the federal government is able to spread the burdens of taxation equitably over all strata of society and all comers of the land...
...That only makes sense, however, if we provide the child care and health benefits that make it rational for welfare recipients to enter the labor market...
...Meantime, by adopting new budget-making rules in the name of fighting the deficit, the Congress has tied itself into procedural knots that all but preclude even the most obviously prudent and costeffective new initiatives to deal with even the most demanding of our many crises...
...In his State of the Union address, President Bush said: "If you've got a hanuner, find a nail...
...People and their skills will be the true sources of wealth and competitiveness in the knowledge-driven global economy of the 1990s and beyond...
...In deciding whether to designate a 7A administrator, the judge must determine whether apartment con- ditions are hazardous to human health and safety, that is, the situation is sufficiently serious to warrant a direct intrusion into an owner's control of his or her property...
...A major factor behind this widening gulf is a dramatic increase in capital gains income received by the wealthiest Americans, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities...
...To the extent that the results of efforts like these are known and appreciated, they help to restore public confidence in our nation's ability to come to grips with its problems...
...e should begin giving the cities some financial breathing room by federalizing both Medicaid and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC...
...JOHN J. PIDERIT, S.J., was for many years the president of a housing corporation in the Bronx...
...Even at the local level, despite difficult social and financial obstacles, many cities and states over the past decade developed innovative programs that have helped to cushion the blow of the federal retreat...
...Nine states pay a maximum benefit of less than a third of the poverty threshold...
...What good is a strong defense budget if we don't have a strong America to defend...
...We cannot afford the toll that poverty is taking on our families, the effects of bad schools, bad housing, poor nutrition and health care, lack of jobs, low pay and little opportunity at what jobs are offered, denial of funds for treatment of drug addiction and other remedial programs, and all the other conditions that impact most directly on the poorest but are rapidly spreading upward through the working and middle classes...
...The U.S...
...business failures rising out of the shrinking of the average customer's disposable income, the impact of crime, the absence of trained or trainable workers, the effects of poor or no maintenance on roads, highways, bridges, and other public facilities, the indispensable foundation of a flour- ishing commerce...
...If we are to compete successfully in the new world economy, we must guarantee that our work force is trained, that our research and development dollars strengthen the civilian economy, and that our communities are livable...
...they say we need to "get the government off our backs...
...Similarly, the owner of a condominium or cooperative expects any inter- ruptions in the provision of hot water to be brief and infrequent...
...is to compete in the new 19 April 1991:253 During the 1980s, Washington shifted most of the burden of caring for the poor to cities and states--a scheme one observer has called "fend-for-yourself federalism...
...The rapidly rising cost of Medicaid is a major factor in the fiscal crises facing our states...
...In 1984 the building had so many violations of city housing codes that the tenants requested that a 7A administrator (the name derives from the pertinent code in housing law) be appointed to oversee the building...
...The federal government should establish a national minimum benefit standard for AFDC and food stamps equal to at least the poverty line...
...The U.S...
...we heard nothing about jobs for the jobless, homes for the homeless, about fighting poverty and seriously promoting economic recovery...
...One-third of the tenants qualify for Section 8 housing supplements (under this federal subsidy program, severely curtailed since the Reagan administration, tenants pay a fixed percentage, 33 percent, of their monthly income for rent, even if their wages are modest...
...Yearly federal assistance to Boston was slashed from $150 million to $64 million--this in the very period when the plagues of homelessness, AIDS, and crack addiction were reaching crisis proportions...
...2. Invest in People...
...Preaching democracy as the cure for problems all over the world, we are stifling democracy at home...
...The building's thirty apartments are occupied largely by working- class families and are predominantly Puerto Rican...
...In basic competencies--reading and math, for exam- pie--American students (including high school graduates) are far behind their counterparts in other industrial nations...
...Some causes of poverty were not addressed...
...Though far from adequately funded, this legislation recognizes the national interest in the creation of more and better housing, and the necessity of allocating federal funds for this purpose--but without involving federal agencies in microman- agement of local housing programs...
...Just as the 1980s was a decade of disinvestment--a massive federal retreat from our cities--so must the 1990s be a decade of reinvestment...
...and build affordable housing, by embarking on a large-scale program that offers a significant role to community- based nonprofit builders...
...If the agenda I have sketched is to be carried out, we will need to take into account public attitudes toward government, the poor, and the proper allocation of national resources...
...and eventually incorporated into the omnibus housing bill passed by Congress and signed by the president last year...
...We must put Americans back to work by investing in jobs...
...1. Invest in Jobs...
...She worked for the Northwest Bronx Coalition, with which I have had a close work- ing relationship...
...The accident of geography should not determine whether a child has adequate heat, food, and clothing...
...What's needed is the national leadership to forge a progressive domestic agenda for economic recovery and social justice, and recognition by the people as well as the leaders that we cannot fight a war against poverty with an all- volunteer army...
...All rent revenues must be used to repair and maintain the building, not to pay off the mortgage or taxes...
...During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a concerted effort by conservative think tanks, publications, and pundits, as well as the Reagan administration, to blame government antipoverty programs--and the poor themselves--for the persistence of poverty...
...More people today are likely to earn their poverty on the job~the "working poor...
...Most major coun- tries have figured out that it is far more cost-effective to put people to work than to pay unemployment or welfare costs...
...The problem is that Washington not only collects the most money but decides where it is to be spent--and sometimes, as over the past decade and more, neither prudently nor productively...
...There is no rational basis for the present system of determining AFDC payments, under which the federal government simply matches the amounts set by state governments...
...To enlist the federal government in the expansion of this concept, I drafted a bill, the Community Housing Partnership Act, which was introduced in the House by Representative Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass...
...This--not social spending for needy and working fam- ilies-is a major cause of our federal deficit...
...Rather we are asking national policymakers to open their eyes to the debilitating effects of federal funding decisions on our cities--which contribute at least their fair share of federal rev- enues-and the concomitant effects on the nation...
...A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) showed that such public investment would improve the overall economy by stimulating private investment, raising private sector pro- ductivity, increasing corporate profits and spurring overall growth...
...In Boston, for example, the city's neighborhood health centers have helped reduce the rate of infant mortality...
...But poverty is a national problem, exacerbated by federal policies or inattention...
...Together, these abuses help to insulate many elected officials from the concerns of ordi- nary voters...
...Homicide is now the leading cause of death among young black males...
...A program to construct 1 million single-family homes and apartments a year would generate 1.3 million jobs, $34 billion in wages, and $14 billion in additional federal, state, and local tax revenues--and have significant ripple effects to promote economy recovery...
...Though we may be weary of heating this, the fight against poverty was never really given a chance to succeed...
...9 Apart from those who live on the streets or in shelters, millions of Americans live doubled-up or tripled-up in over- crowded apartments, or pay more than they can reasonably afford for substandard housing...
...There is plenty of work to do...
...Why do mayors like myself look to the White House and Congress for leadership in addressing urban problems...
...The problems were bad enough before the recession began...
...James Park and opposite the Jerome Avenue elevated train, the building on Morris Avenue is the only multifamily dwelling on a block of row houses...
...clean up our physical environment, such as our polluted harbors and rivers...
...For one example: No one city, nor all of them together, brought about the recession...
...But nails cost money, and so do bricks and two-by-fours and windowpanes, not to speak of mortgages...
...Every year in recent times my own city has balanced its budget and achieved higher bond ratings...
...the rising burden of new jails, prisons, prosecutors, judges...
...9 Racially-motivated incidents of crime and violence are on the rise...
...The economy of the 1990s will rest on human resources...
...During the past decade, Boston, like many cities, lost hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for housing, health care, job training, and com- munity development...
...A network of nonprofit, community-based housing groups, sup- ported by local government, banks, and foundations, has built or rehabilitated thousands of homes for poor and working-class families...
...A growing number of young people are involved in gangs and the underground economy of drugs...
...Yet the effects of recession hit hardest and most directly on poor people, and most lowincome Americans live in the cities...
...As a result, millions of Americans are just one rent increase, layoff, illness, or other emergency away from becoming homeless...
...Some 85 percent of low-income renters--almost 6 million households--are paying at least 30 percent of their income for housing...
...et me suggest four key components of a domestic economic recovery and social justice agenda...
...At the same time, Washington should reform the welfare system to provide requirements for welfare recipients (except those who are disabled or with infants) to work or par- ticipate in job training...
...9 Demand for emergency shelter and soup kitchens has climbed steadily for a decade, according to annual surveys by the U.S...
...We particularly underutilize our nation's colleges and universities---especially by neglecting federal investment in research linked to economic progress...
...An economist, he is currently corporate vice-president at Marquette University in Milwaukee...
...The following story of one group of tenants in a building located in the Fordhum-Bedford section of the Bronx (the North Bronx, not the much maligned South Bronx), New York, reveals the difficulties that plague poor and low-income tenants who live in urban areas, especially an area where real estate speculation is rife...
...Now their effects are visibly spreading beyond the core cities...
...We deserve an America that is at least as strong domestically as it is militarily...
...Moreover, as we enter a recession, this disparity between wealthy and other Americans is getting worse...
...Once the costs of inaction are seen, it becomes instantly clear that we can afford to invest in opportunity, productivity, and fairness...
...Indeed, the share of national income going to those in the middle is now lower than at any time since World War II...
...Our cities are a tinderbox, waiting to explode...
...The real problem is to get the federal government on our side...
...Meanwhile, during the past decade, the homeownership rate steadily declined, espe- cially for young families...
...These economic trends and federal policies are reflected in Americans' daily lives and living conditions...
...This helped justify the past decade of federal disinvestment...
...The figure for children is yet more alarm- ing: one of every four lives in poverty (among blacks, one of every two...
...has fallen far behind Japan and Western Europe in its investment in public infras- tructure...
...EPI found that a dollar spent today on public infrastructure invest- ment produces from two to five times more payoff in GNP growth than a dollar spent on tax cuts or deficit reduction...
...has the resources to guarantee every American a decent standard of living...
...Bush's budget proposal includes even further housing cuts...
...Some approaches were oversold and/or inadequately monitored...
...Officials in Washington met last summer to consider proposals for a new antipoverty effort, but they concluded that it was either too expensive or too controversial...
...But now most states are facing fiscal crises and budget deficits, and can no longer provide an additional safety net...
...Our major international competitors all devote significantly more resources toward civilian R&D, stimulating new businesses and technologies, and then helping to market them in the global econ- omy...
...Let's be clear: We are fighting this war against drugs, violence, and crime today because the federal government-- both the White House and Congress--abandoned the war on poverty...
...The U.S...
...Federal functions (foreign relations, national defense, interstate commerce and transit, etc...
...The president of the tenants' association is a black mother in her thirties with four children...
...Two-thirds of the poor pay at least half of their limited incomes just to keep a roof over their families' heads...
...Last year alone, they received an average of $175,000 in capital gains income alone--S92,000 more than they received in 1980, after adjusting for inflation...
...For a while, and in some regions of the country, state governments were flush with revenues and able to cushion some of the blow caused by the national gov- ernment's retreat from the cities...
...First, because the kinds of problems being addressed here are not local but national in their origin and scope, and in their effects on the national well-being...
...The federal government has used its preemptive powers to capture the lion's share of governmental revenues...
...Community organizing projects have put pressure on slumlords and banks to improve local housing conditions...
...In their appeal for a 7A administrator, the Morris Avenue tenants' organization contacted the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), New York City's housing...
...The average income of those at the very top rose $236,000 during the decade--an increase of 75 percent--while the poorest one-fifth of the population saw its income drop by 3.8 percent...
...ranks nineteenth in teacher/student ratios in public ele- mentary and secondary schools...
...My infor- mation about the saga of its residents comes from an officer of its tenants' association, a person who has also been active in promoting decent housing in the area...
...A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston documented that increases in Medicaid costs are pushing out funding for other much-needed programs such as human services and local aid...
...Getting our priorities straight means recognizing what we can and cannot afford...
...We see the results in our communities every day...
...It is in the interD est of some Americans to mislabel the political task of the decade...
...But those federal programs that were given a chance (such as Head Start and WIC) did have a big impact...
...It is the safest of predictions: We will pay now, or we will pay later, at a far higher cost in dollars and in human lives...
...Americans will pay their fair share of taxes if they know that programs can be cost-effective and successful in promoting economic recovery, providing services, and combating poverty...
...This is a recipe for disaster...
...9 ut efforts to correct these weaknesses will meet D resistance, and so will any serious programs to 4 address our domestic problems...
...9 About one-fourth of young Americans fail to finish high school...
...Fanuhes with children are the fastest rising segment of Americans who are hungry and home- less...
...256: Commonweal This story is all the more poignant because the tenants have been organized for ten years working to secure reasonable housing conditions...
...Nevertheless, Mr...
...Bush's budget proposal continues a decade of federal with252: Commonweal drawal from concern for the cities and their people...
...Since welfare benefits vary widely from state to state, this results in a crazy- quilt pattern...
...There is no better anti-poverty program than the dignity of a steady paycheck and a decent job...
...Second, we look to Washington because Washington is where the money is...
...Poverty has been declared a nonproblem, when in fact it is the root and ground of the other conditions that threaten us...
...should learn that lesson, too...
...To build the political will for an adequate domestic agenda we must also make our political processes more accessible and responsive than they are...
...Worse, the infant mor- tality rate among black Americans (17.6) and within our major cities (for example, 19.7 in Detroit, 19.3 in Washington, D.C., 19.2 in Baltimore, 17.7 in Memphis, 17.3 in Philadelphia, and 16.6 in Chicago) rivals that in many third-world countries...
...During this decade of increased destitution, a small number of wealthy Americans became even richer...
...If the hot water heater does not work, she gets it repaired immediately...
...We must also retool our research-and-development priorities, putting our people and brainpower to work improving our civilian productivity with at least the same commitment that goes into inventing new weapons systems...
...Persistent poverty is not only a tragic waste of human talent, but also a drain on our nation's productivity...
...A combination of progressive tax reform and cuts in military spending can provide the resources needed to start the job, and the return on investment that will follow out of economic recovery will more than suffice to sustain the effort...
...With old problems festering, new ones appearing, and both kinds made worse by recession, cities face the impact of state cutbacks added to federal indifference...
...As the recession deepens, and competition for scarce resources (including jobs) tightens, prejudice and bigotry could increase...
...If only in our own interest, we cannot afford to write off generations of young people to poverty, hopelessness, drugs, and crime...
...Consider the strange case of the Brady Bill, a mild- to-moderate gun control proposal that has been repeatedly shoved aside and at this writing is still not assured of passage despite overwhelming support among the general public and from law- enforcement agencies--all through the efforts of a single well- heeled lobby...
...So far, we are not getting it...
...are inherently costly...
...Instead it puts money into the hands of local nonprofit community organizations: those who best understand what most needs doing in this place and time, and how best to do it...
...the vice-president is a Puerto Rican gentleman in his fifties...
...But progress was made, and there was promise of more when the costs of that other war (in Southeast Asia) and, later, the rhetoric of supply-side ideologues brought about whole- sale retreat...
...A post-Gulf War economic recovery plan cannot be just a couple of tax breaks and then, hope for the best...
...Compared with a decade ago, today's poor are poorer, and likely to be poor for longer periods...
...One Bush administration official was quoted as saying that their decision was to "keep playing with the same toys..But let's paint them a little shinier...
...Because of these misplaced priorities, we've been unable to fund the kinds of 19 April 1991:255 efforts that are urgently needed to rebuild our economy, our businesses, and our cities...
...But it's not a mistake or an accident that the national government stands first in line where taxes are concerned...
...9 The nation's infant mortality rate--10 deaths per 1,000 live births--ranks nineteenth in the world, behind those reported by Japan, Hong Kong, and New Zealand...
...fell to half of the 1970s rate, and one-quarter of that during the 1950s and 1960s...
...In his annual address, the president did not describe the real state of the union...
...We must develop a strategic economic recovery plan for the 1990s that directly addresses the specific needs of America's poor, its working fam- ilies, and its cities...
...GIVE ME SHELTER JOHN J. PIDERIT PROFITS & CODE VIOLATIONS IN THE BRONX he average homeowner considers hot water an amenity over which she has complete control...
...Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised...
...No state pays enough to keep an AFDC family out of poverty--and benefit levels have declined significantly in the past decade...
...Mistakes were made in that war...
...Conference of Mayors...
...improve our mass transit system, including a high-speed rail system between New England and Washington...
...hat is why we need federal leadership to rebuild our cities...
...Thus, mayors like myself are not running to the federal trough to get help for problems of our own making...
...in this way, livable and affordable housing is made available to working families...
...For example: .9 Last year the U.S., and most major cities, had the highest number of murders ever recorded...
...Yet fewer than one-third of America's poor receive any kind of housing subsidy...
...Federalizing Medicaid must go hand-in-hand with measures to control spiraling health- care costs...
...The federal government must take the lead in priming the pump for economic recovery...
...Consider the situation I know best...
...We cannot afford the consequences: burgeoning costs for treatment of preventable health problems...
...Facing on distinguished St...
...He did talk about bailing out the banking industry and he once more pursued his personal holy grail, a cut in the capital gains tax...
Vol. 118 • April 1991 • No. 8
