New York City, April 28, 2004—America’s middle-class families are facing serious risks on all fronts. The administration’s new policies compromise consumer protections, environmental hazards, unemployment insurance, college-loan programs, Medicare, Social Security, public education, and much more. They have warped our fiscal priorities, transferring the tax burden to the wages of working Americans.
The Century Foundation has cosponsored a special report, “War on the Middle Class,” in the May issue of the American Prospect, in which ten authoritative voices weigh in on the policies of the current administration and their devastating consequences for the nation’s working families. The report features articles by the foundation’s president, fellows, and a trustee, among authors examining policy decisions that have created a major budget deficit, put health care and retirement at risk, undercut job security, and shortchanged school-aged children. The Special Report also looks at the political ramifications of current policies and asks whether most citizens will accept the idea that the solution to our problems is to expose American families to more risk.
Articles by individuals connected to The Century Foundation include:
"American Families at Risk," by Century Foundation president Richard C. Leone, who gives a stark portrayal of how current policies have left middle-class families exposed on almost every front.
“Schools of Hard Knocks,” by senior fellow Richard Kahlenberg, who argues that this administration’s limited actions on K–12 and higher education have hampered working families and their children.
“Don’t Mourn, Mobilize,” by Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress, who urges progressives to mobilize middle-class voters by presenting a simple and coherent alternative.
“Future Retirees at Risk” by Alicia Munnell, a member of the The Century Foundation Board of Trustees, who details how Bush’s approach to Social Security and the federal deficit threatens to make old age and poverty synonymous again. Professor Munnell holds the Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management Sciences, Finance Department, Carroll School of Management, Boston College.
Other articles in this special section include:
"Throwing Away the Rules," by Merrill Goozner, who discusses the
administration.s across-the-board market deregulation, with its dangerous impacts
on the middle class.
"Middle
Class and Broke," by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, which
looks at how the expanding costs of a basic education are bringing parents to
their knees.
"Losing Ground," by Jeff Faux, who shows how Bush has orchestrated
the undercutting of American workers. job security, safety, wages, and their
right to organize.
"The Great Tax Shift," by William Gale and Peter Orszag, who demonstrate
that it is lower- and middle-class households who will end up a paying the price
for Bush's tax cuts.
Copies of this special report are available from the American Prospect : www.prospect.org. The Century Foundation will feature selected articles in the Taking Note section of its Web site at www.tcf.org. For more information, please contact Christy Hicks at (212) 452-7723 or hicks@tcf.org.
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