Government is Not a 4-Letter Word

It is no secret that Americans are distrustful of government. In a conversation I had the other day with an employee of a Republican Senator, the same old arguments came up when talking about "helping the poor" - it'll raise taxes, and aren't private and faith-based groups better positioned to help these folks anyway?

I am very sympathetic to the accusation that government programs are often top-heavy and loaded with waste, inefficiency, and bureaucracy. Goverment programs - indeed - are not the solution to all of our problems. I am not a poster child for government programs. However, in our zest to quickly eschew anything that contains the "G" word and "helping people" in the same sentance, I think Americans often forget the good that government can do when properly funneled. While government policy alone will not end poverty, it must be one tool in our toolbelt. The "free market" (which is anything but free - have you seen our trade policy and subsidy packages?) will not be looking out for everyone, and well-placed policy can go a long way toward helping some of those left out and left behind without penalizing everyone else.

One pertinent example is the debate over the minimum wage. The house easily passed a "clean" bill a couple weeks ago. However, it looks like the bill will not be so lucky in the Senate. It is expected that our Senators will attempt to attach a wide range of provisions and amendments, which not only will grow the deficit in the form of tax relief, but will also punish some of the low-wage workers that the increase is designed to help. This should be one of those "no-brainer" votes - it's been 10 years since the last increase, 29 states have already preempted the govt. by raising it on their own, and 86% of Americans support the raise. But NO... a handful of politicians will reject a common sense approach to this raise and load the bill down with "poison pills" and anti-worker, pro-business amendments. So much for something being easy...

Some of these points about the value and necessity of common sense, legislative approaches to poverty-reduction are well made by Paul Krugman in his Christmas op-ed in the NYTimes, which is brief and worth the read:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122606C.shtml

He looks to the success Britain has had in recent years in fighting poverty by simply enacting some common sense approaches. And before you critique it before reading it, it is not socialism; it is not big government; it is not government handouts. It is common sense legislation that puts the common good ahead of partisan bickering and ideological martyrdom.

It is a shame that in America, I just don't have the faith that our parties can come together and enact similar measures, even when they have done well in other nations and seem to make sense. Raising the minimum wage is case-in-point. We'll see if the debate in the Senate proves me wrong.