California, Poorest/Richest State in the Nation

California currently has more than 600,000 millionaires and 85 billionaires in the Forbes 400 list, far more than any other state in the nation. At the same time, California is now the poorest state in the nation, with the highest percentage of residents living at or below the poverty level. According to the Census Bureau, 23.5% (8.7 million Californians) are living in poverty. Florida is number 2 at 19.5%.

These numbers reflect a revision in how the Census Bureau measures poverty. In the past, it looked solely at income versus food costs. Under this system, the poverty rate would be only 16%. Under the new system, it now considers income plus assistance programs (e.g., food stamps, welfare) versus tax rate, childcare, housing and medical costs, in addition to food expenses, providing a much more realistic (though still incomplete) picture of families’ financial challenges.

Nearly 50% of California’s children live in or “perilously close” to poverty according to the newer metric, probably the single biggest reason for the state’s low test scores. True poverty rates are further obscured by the arbitrary and absurdly low federal threshold of $23,021 for a family of four. Considering that average monthly rents are $1552 in Los Angeles, $1431 in San Diego, $1938 in San Jose and $2106 in San Francisco, families must spend between $17,172 and $25,272 per year just to place a roof over their heads.

It is not just that better methods are providing a more accurate measure of poverty. The recession has also contributed to a dramatic increase in poverty. Between 2008 and 2011, for example, poverty rose 12% in Los Angeles County to 24.3%, and rose even more in some of the state’s rural counties. Conditions have grown so bad that California has seen negative migration patterns for the past eight years, according to the WSWS. A combination of low unemployment rates in Mexico (roughly half of California’s in recent years) and increased militarization of the border and deportations (a record 400,000 in 2012) has significantly reduced migration from Mexico. This has led to labor shortages in the state’s agriculture sector, with some farmers opting to let unpicked produce rot rather than increasing wages to attract domestic employees, since the former increases sales prices and profits, while the latter only cuts into profits.

While the state’s economy “recovers,” job growth has been primarily in low-wage service jobs. Thus many formerly unemployed are now earning far less than they did prior to the recession, contributing to the ranks of the working poor. Cuts to social programs has placed further downward pressure on living standards and contributed to the growing number of poor Californians under the new measurement system.

Cut Class, Lose Welfare—MI’s Latest Attempt to Bail Itself Out on the Backs of the Poor

Get to Class, Punk (Image from Flickr, by DonkeyHotey)

A new Michigan law (effective October 1) requires all children to be in school full time or the entire family will become ineligible to receive welfare benefits, the Detroit News reports. Furthermore, all new cash-assistance applicants will now be required to prove school enrollment for their children and good attendance in order to receive aid, while families that have lost benefits due to truancy will have to prove their child has attended school for 21 consecutive days before they can regain eligibility.

Of course it is difficult to succeed in school if you do not go to class and truancy certainly hurts schools’ finances since revenues are based on average daily attendance. But it is cruel and stupid to strip welfare benefits from an entire family, potentially harming the health, safety and educational outcomes of younger siblings, because of the behavior of one child, particularly when truancies are often unavoidable products of poverty.

Many lower income children miss class for untreated medical conditions. Without health insurance or resources for preventable care, minor treatable conditions can worsen to the point that students are in too much pain to attend class. They may even require hospitalization. Lower income children also have higher rates of asthma, diabetes, anemia and other chronic conditions that can lead to long-term absences or hospitalization, particularly when treatment is out of reach. Even “excusable” medical absences can become “cuts” if they last longer than a few days and a doctor’s note cannot be obtained (which is not uncommon when the student cannot afford to see a doctor in the first place).

Lower income kids also sometimes stay home from school to care for younger siblings or older relatives so their parents can go to work. While this is unfortunate for the children who are missing out on school and being forced to grow up more quickly than their peers, it is also a product of poverty. Affluent families are more likely to be able to afford day care, home care, private preschool and other resources for family members in need of supervision or care.

Some students cut class to avoid bullies or rival gangs. This is rarely seen as an “excusable” absence by schools. However, from the perspective of the child it may be the only reasonable choice when the alternative of coming to school includes the risk of injury or even death. Students also report cutting class because they live far away from school and cannot secure consistent transportation to school. Hunger, depression and other mental health issues can also keep some kids from attending school regularly.

In none of these examples is the threat of losing welfare benefits likely to change the behavior.

Of course there are plenty of kids who are truant purely to avoid the stress of classwork or to party with their friends. There are also plenty of kids who are truant because their parents keep them away from school for family vacations or social events. It is understandable and perhaps even justifiable to hold these parents accountable for their children’s unexcused absences, but the state of Michigan is unlikely to invest in sufficient social workers to visit every home of every truant student to assess the actual causes and legitimacy of the truancies.

More importantly, if the issue truly is children’s wellbeing, a one-size fits all punitive approach cannot succeed and will most likely have the opposite effect. Since the majority of chronic truancies are related to poverty, stripping poor families of their meager welfare benefits will only worsen their poverty, while completely ignoring root causes of truancy like inadequate transportation, poor access to health care, gang violence, lack of child care for siblings, hunger and depression.

CA Lawmakers: Kill the Poor, Disabled and Elderly So We Can Get Paid

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the state’s new budget, just in the nick of time so that lawmakers can finally get paid. Under the new budget, which cuts around $15 billion from social services, poor people will get less medical care and welfare, fewer services will be available for disabled people, state parks will close and students at the UC and CSU university systems will see their tuitions skyrocket.

The new budget passed because there were no new taxes, old taxes were allowed to wear out, Dems and Reps looked the other way as a bit of financial hocus pocus was scattered about, and the remaining deficit was pushed onto the backs of the state’s most vulnerable and politically marginalized residents. Specifically, the tax extensions that Gov. Brown so dearly wanted extended have been allowed to end, reducing sales tax from 8.25 to 7.25% and slashing the vehicle license fee (vlf) by 50%. The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that this will benefit the average Californian by $1,000 per year. However, for those with beaters or no cars at all, the slashing of the VLF will be negligible, whereas for those with Hummers, Caddies, Porsches and fancier vehicles, the decreased VLF will save them hundreds. Similarly, the savings from a declining sales tax will be much greater for big ticket items that the wealthy can afford, and meaningless for those who spend primarily on food and medicine. Thus, the middle class and wealthy will save some money, while the poor and working classes will save very little on the deal.

Meanwhile, the $83 per month average savings will result in havoc and death for poor people in the state. For example, under the new budget, people on Medi-Cal will be limited to only 7 doctor visits per year and, for the first time ever they will have co-pays for hospital and emergency room visits and medications, the Chronicle reports, thus dissuading them from seeking necessary or urgent care. The adult day health program, which serves 37,000 people, will be eliminated, forcing thousands into nursing homes. The In-Home Supportive Services program, which serves 436,000 seniors, disabled and blind residents, providing meals and hygiene, will also be slashed, reducing their home assistance by 16.5 hours per month, the Chronicle reports. Welfare recipients will be cut off after four years. The department that oversees services for people with developmental disabilities will lose $577 million this year, on top of $700 million two years ago. The CSU and UC systems will lose $650 million each, bringing tuition to over $12,000 per year at UC schools, and up to nearly $6,000 per year at CSUs.

Even for the cynical, selfish and greedy, these cuts are far worse than they would seem on paper. Many of the cuts to healthcare, for example, will result in the loss of federal matching funds, thus doubling their negative impact. Furthermore, billions of dollars of federal stimulus funds that boosted Medi-Cal are set to run out tomorrow. According to the Chronicle, the stimulus funds added an additional 12% to the matching funds, so that for every 50 cents California spent on Medi-Cal, the feds chipped in another 62 cents.  People without health services tend to ignore treatable and chronic conditions until they need emergency services, which results in thousands of preventable deaths and ends up costing tax payers far more in the long run.

America Eats Its Young

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

A new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (and reported in the WSWS) said that the jobless rate for young workers in the U.S. is the highest since records started to be tracked in 1948. To make matters worse, there is virtually no safety net for youth. Unemployment insurance is only available to those who have already been working and who lost their jobs, not for people trying to enter the workforce for the first time.

The unemployment rate for young people ages 16-24 not attending school has roughly doubled since 2007. While the official unemployment rate was 9.6% in 2010, the rate for 16-24-year olds was at 18.4%. Recent high school graduates have been hardest hit with an unemployment rate of 22.5%. However, even recent college graduates are struggling, with their unemployment rate more than double that of college graduates who are 25 or older. The situation is even bleaker for youth of color. The unemployment rate for 16-24-year old high school graduates is 22.8% for Hispanic youth and 31.8% for African-Americans.

                                                                                                                      

Not only are younger workers having a tough time finding work, over half of all college graduates also have at least $20,000 in debt. Furthermore, youth are ineligible for most of the social safety net programs that are available to struggling families. Welfare is only applicable to parents with children and, like unemployment insurance, has work requirements. Another safety net program, the Earn Income Tax Credit, also requires employment.

Contrary to the propaganda of the Obama Administration, the high unemployment rate for young workers is not due to their lack of education. U.S. businesses have been making record profits, so the money for hiring is there. However, they are not hiring. They have pushed up productivity to unprecedented levels by downsizing and speeding up, squeezing more work out of fewer employees. Rather than giving these highly productive workers a raise, they have pocketed the profits and created a growing army of surplus labor, so desperate for an income that they are willing to work for less, accept non-unionized jobs, and even scab on unionized workers. It is in the bosses’ interests to maintain this army of unemployed workers to help drive down wages and weaken unions.

In contrast, it is in the interests of labor and youth activists to organize among the unemployed, especially the young, something that is not happening. Historically, the unions have accepted the ruling class lies that other workers are their enemies, perpetuating racist, sexist and nationalist antagonisms. A similar situation looms today, with a potential scapegoating of youth, blaming them for job losses or declining wages. Rather, labor and other activists need to proactively organize workers and unemployed, alike, to resist the escalating class war against the rest of us.

Drug Testing Teachers & the Poor for Fun & Profit in Florida

Latest in Ed Deform, More Tea Party Lunacy, or Just Gold Old Capitalism at its Finest? 

Image by Francis Storr

Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott has signed an executive order requiring drug tests for all state workers and welfare recipients. According to the OB Rag, Scott plans to test at least 100,000 workers on the state payroll at least four times a year, as well as 58,000 welfare recipients, who would have to pay for their own drug screening. Rita Solnit, of Parents Across America, says that the drug testing will also apply to teachers.

This is not really news, as it has been reported extensively over the past few weeks, particularly by Chris Guerrieri, at Education Matters. Yet Scott’s hubris and his success up until now are so astounding I couldn’t resist writing about it. In order to become governor, Scott had to do more than just ride the wave of anti-Obama hatred that got so many Tea Party candidates elected. He also had to successfully whitewash a sordid past that included his forced resignation as CEO of the massive healthcare company Columbia/HCA over illegal business dealings and Medicare theft. The Miami Herald reported that the company ultimately admitted to fourteen felonies and had to pay a record $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud, while Scott, himself, was found to have taken part in illegal business dealings.

This history of corrupt medical business dealings set the stage for Scott’s current foray into the anti-drug side of healthcare. In 2001, Scott founded an urgent care clinic called Solantic, which offers drug and alcohol screening tests. During Scott’s election, he disclosed that he had holdings in Solantic worth $62 million. The company was transferred to his wife’s name when he was elected governor and he assured the public that Florida would not do business with the company, thus implying that there would be no conflict of interest. Yet the Palm Beach Post News reported that Solantic had received $110,657 from the state in 2010 and $20,061 so far in 2011, mostly in Medicaid payments. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Scott is expected to force millions of Medicaid patients into managed care organizations, which could funnel millions of dollars more into his family’s business.

According to Education Matters, the ACLU of Florida is calling Scott’s move an attempt to resurrect a policy that a federal judge found unconstitutional back in 2004. Clearly there is no public benefit to drug testing workers who have no direct responsibility for public safety, while it is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars to screen everyone, especially welfare recipients, who have no responsibility whatsoever for public safety. Imposing anti-drug morality on teachers and welfare recipients is the epitome of Nanny State invasion of privacy. Interestingly, the ACLU has come out on the side of state workers but, according to the OB Rag, has not provided much support for the rights of welfare recipients to keep their urine private.

All this comes on the heels of so many other attacks on students, teachers and working people it makes the head spin. (See Solnit’s article here for more).

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

• Teachers in Florida will now have 50% of their evaluations based on student test scores, which will force many of the best teachers to transfer out of low performing and low income schools and/or to focus even more heavily on test prep, at the expense of critical thinking, inquiry-based teaching and the promotion of student curiosity and love of learning. 
• Teachers and judges will be compensated through merit pay schemes, yet there has been no money allocated to pay for it. Thus, those teachers and judges deemed “excellent” will possibly see their wages remain constant, while everyone else will either be fired or get pay cuts. This too will exacerbate teaching to the test and flight from low income schools, while it will encourage judges to ram through cases quickly, without regard for justice or fairness.
• All new teachers will be on one-year contracts, with no job security, while existing teachers must choose between keeping their existing contracts, with the possibility of never seeing another raise, or joining the newbies with yearly contracts that may or may not be renewed. Of course, this is not a real choice. Anyone who has been in a district for more than a few years will have higher pay than the newbies, so giving up their existing contract will likely result in either not getting hired again, or having to accept entrance level wages.
• Seniority rights for teachers will be eliminated.
• Private charter schools will be expanded.
• Support for the developmentally disabled will be slashed.