The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America's Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservations Can Love

This is a pretty good and even handed look at a looming crisis. There is no need for scare tactics because it is a very real situation and one that is very likely to occur unless we change things (which is not looking too promising at the moment). Fortunately, and timely, last night's episode of "The West Wing" addressed the very same issues and hopefully will get people to start thinking about it, if only at a subconscious level.The author is a Democrat, but does a good job of keeping things on the level (except for the several times that he complains about the problems that Clinton "inherited", while ignoring the ones that other Presidents have "inherited", like a trashed stock market and rapidly tanking economy). A bit more editing would have been much better. Still, open-minded individuals can appreciate it (by the way, I am Libertarian).There are no easy solutions, but this one gives some good possibilities that could be acceptable from all sides.

One is always delighted to find such a thought-provoking and daring book as this one by noted author and NPR analyst Matthew Miller. It is thought-provoking along the lines of other recent tomes such as "Rogue Nation" in carefully delineating the manifest fashions in which the current Bush economic approach undermine some of the most deeply cherished aspects of American society, and daring in the sense that like other recent works such as "The Soul Of Capitalism", the author reaches beyond his grasp to attempt to find some answers of the most enduring and vexing problems facing contemporary society. And, by locating the fundamental malaise within the political and economic orbit of crony capitalism and its running dogs of politics, he illustrates how corrupted politicians serving the interests of the power elite repeatedly foist "cutting-edge" short term solutions which not only do not help, but instead makes matters terribly worse over the longer run. Therefore, the author argues quite persuasively on behalf of the idea that we could dig our way out of this downward spiral we seem to be riding over the last dozen years or so, by simply dedicating two percent of the total tax revenue exclusively toward solving the most pressing and critical looming financial problems facing the polity over the next several decades; universal health care, equal education, and livable wages, by acting to avert the catastrophe of baby-boomer pensions, the social security debacle, and the profound loss of American working class jobs that both the Congress and President seem to be determine to not only ignore, but to exacerbate with their short-sighted political machinations. His basic solution amount to the following equation: fund all the bright young kids to ensure their full education and incorporation into the work force, and doing so will produce the kind of traditional American genius and sustained innovative capability the country needs to continue its economic expansion and the kind of substantial job growth we will need to fund the baby boomers in their retirement. And while one may not agree with the accuracy of the simple equation (I personally think it is necessary but not sufficient), it is indeed hard to argue with the well-documented arguments he foists against the kinds of mind-boggling perfidy that characterizes what passes for current economic policy. One of the most straight-forward aspects of his argument is his plain-spoken assertion that the politicians of both the right and the left have dissembled and prevaricated with us about what is possible politically, or about to the degree to which they have been co-opted and corrupted by the extraordinary demands of funding for re-elections. And, in what is truly an argument one finds hard to assail or question based on its substantial documentation, Miller then proceeds to show us how the investment of just two percent of all this tax funding can right so many of the enduring and persistent social

Can universal health insurance, increased employment, reduction in poverty and political independence be achieved for just two cents on the national dollar? Matthew Miller challenges the country to change how we think about public responsibilities before the Boomer generation attacks the retirement system in The Two Percent Solution. Individual chapters provide an articulate and intelligent re-assessment which persuasively challenges traditional political and social mores.

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links. This book is politically and economically *explosive*. It joins The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics (Halstead & Lind) and The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (Ray & Anderson) as one of my "top three" in domestic US political economics, and it *also* joins The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy (William Greider) and Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions (Clyde Prestowitz) is my "top three" for international political economics. This is a cross-over, transformative book that should be meaningful to everyone in the world, but especially to those Americans who wish to break out of the vicious downward spiral caused by partisan politics and voodoo economics--by elected politicians corrupted by special interests and consistently selecting short-term fraudulent "solutions" at the expense of long-term *sustainable" solutions. By "2% solution" the author means 2 cents of every dollar in the national budget, or roughly what we have already wasted or committed to waste on the misbegotten Iraq invasion and occupation. The author crafts a viable proposition for thinking really big and coming to grips, in time to avert the looming disaster of the baby boomer pensions and the collapse of health care and education, with the four biggest issues threatening the national security and prosperity of the United States of America: universal health care; equal education for all, a living wage for all, and sustainable reliable pensions for all. He sums it up in a gripping fashion: if we don't fund smart well-educated kids across the entire country, then we will not have the productivity we need to expand our pension funds and care for the boomers when they hit retirement. Smart kids now, safe retirement for today's adults. Any questions? He is candidly (but politely) blunt when he states, and then documents, that both the Republican and Democratic party leaders (less Howard Dean) are lying to us about the answers that are possible (Prologue, page xiii). His book is an earnest--and in my judgement, hugely successful--attempt to create what the author calls an "ideologically androgynous" agenda for achieving social and economic justice in America with a commitment of just two cents on the tax-revenue dollar. On the issue of teaching, he documents the "teacher gap" as one of the primary reasons for varying levels of performance--a gap that is more important than genetics or environment, and that is also resolvable by sound educational policy and funding. He brutally undresses both the Bush Administration, which is leaving every child behind, and the Democrats, who are "more symbol than cure." Republican hypocrisy and Democratic timidity receive an equal thrashing. On living wages, he documents the 25 million that are not covered; on pensions he documents the coming collapse of Social Security and other "off budget" and unprot