8 Phony GOP Solutions for Poverty That Will Only Bring More Economic Pain

http://www.opednews.com/articles/8-Phony-GOP-Solutions-for-by-Dave-Johnson-Economic-Crisis_Poor_Republican_Unemployed-140121-377.html



The GOP is trying to rebrand itself as "compassionate" toward the poor. So what are its big ideas?

8 Phony GOP Solutions for Poverty That Will Only Bring More Economic Pain
OpEdNews Op Eds 1/21/2014 at 12:41:58
By Dave Johnson

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1. Don't raise minimum wage: Rubio said we shouldn't raise the minimum wage to $10 because no one wants a job that pays $10. "Raising the minimum wage may poll well, but having a job that pays $10 an hour is not the American dream." It is not clear how not raising the minimum wage translates into people getting jobs that pay more than $10 an hour. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, an amount so low that people working full-time can't afford to pay rent in any state, never mind buy food. People making the minimum wage actually qualify for food stamps and other government assistance. A bill currently before Congress to lift the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would lift 4.6 million Americans out of poverty.

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2. Give subsidies to employers instead: Instead of raising the minimum wage (higher wages mean less money going into the pockets of those at the top of the corporate ladder) Rubio proposes to replace the Earned Income Tax Credit with a direct wage subsidy. He would give government money to companies to "supplement wages." He says this would "encourage and reward work." This would mean the money companies are not paying out in higher wages would continue to go to the top few and government would make up the difference: a direct government subsidy of inequality.

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3. Turn programs over to states: Rubio proposed turning federal anti-poverty programs over to the states in a single "flex-fund" block grant, in order to let the states decide what to do with the money. Note that 24 states are currently refusing the federal Medicaid expansion, leaving 5.4 million people without health coverage even though it comes at no cost to those states. So the record on turning things over to the states as a way to help the poor is not good.

4. Marriage: Rubio's big proposal is marriage (but not gay marriage). He said, "the greatest tool to lift children and families from poverty is one that decreases the probability of child poverty by 82 percent. But it isn't a government spending program. It's called marriage." Rubio says that government subsidies to increase wages (instead of just raising the minimum wage) makes men more "marriageable." He also said we need to "remove the marriage penalties in safety net programs." This is typical Republican dog-whistle politics, used to evoke images of "welfare mothers" -- single black mothers having lots of babies so they can get more welfare.