Help the Middle and Lower Classes with College

To win, Democrats need to hitting issues like this and proposing good practical solutions like this...

DLC | Proposal Summary | July 19, 2006
Saving the American Dream
A Plan to Help the U.S. and the Middle Class Get Ahead By Producing One Million More College Graduates by 2015

The way to help America get ahead in the global economy is to give Americans the tools to get ahead in the 21st century. College is vital to America's success in a competitive world, and to expanding and strengthening the middle class here at home. A college education and training are key to individual advancement, and a workforce of college graduates and highly trained workers is the key to giving America a competitive edge.

America needs a bold new plan to produce one million more college and community college graduates a year by 2015 -- so that within a decade, America will be a nation in which more than half the young people finish college with a degree, and any student willing to work part-time or perform community service can go to 4 years of college tuition-free.

Closing the Graduate Gap

From the land grants of the 19th century to the GI Bill after World War II, opening the doors of college built the great American middle class. Today, the U.S. is blessed with the finest colleges on earth, but too many young people can't afford to go to college, and too often don't graduate. The U.S., which used to rank 1st in the world in the percentage of young people with a post-secondary degree, has fallen to 7th. This graduate gap is hurting our competitiveness abroad and income growth here at home.

The cost of college tuition has exploded at the very time a college degree matters most. Over the last five years, the average tuition at a public university has increased by more than 50 percent, to $5,500 a year. Instead of making college more affordable, the Bush administration and Republican Congress have done the opposite: Earlier this year, the president signed a budget reconciliation bill that slashed financial assistance by $12.7 billion, the largest cut in college aid in history. We need a bold new plan -- fully paid for by cutting wasteful corporate subsidies to make college affordable again, challenge every young person to attend, and hold the system accountable for producing more college graduates. The plan includes:

• A new, performance-based American Dream Grant that will award states $150 billion over 10 years to reduce tuition and increase graduation rates.
• Tax reform to consolidate existing incentives into a single, refundable $3,000 college tuition tax credit to cover 4 years of college, grad school, and training.
• Increased incentives and accountability for colleges to raise graduation rates, and more flexible college aid to help adult students balance work and family.

The American Dream Grant

Seven score and four years ago, in July 1862, Abraham Lincoln and the national government gave states land grants to build the finest public college system on earth. Today, we must act in the same spirit, by giving states grants to make public colleges more affordable and produce more college graduates. With college so crucial to America's economic future, states and communities shouldn't have to bear the burden alone. For the last two decades, state budgets have been burdened with the soaring cost of health care, and state appropriations for higher education have stayed flat. That left parents and students to pick up the slack: The average annual tuition at a 4-year public college has gone up about $2,000 in the last five years alone.

It is time to make college affordable, and hold students and colleges accountable for results. We propose a new, performance-based American Dream Grant that will award states money each year based on the number of students that attend and graduate from their colleges and universities. Over the next decade, this block grant will provide states $150 billion to reduce tuition and increase graduation rates.

With the national government as a partner, states will be able to launch new efforts to make college more affordable, and expand efforts already under way. Each year, states will receive money based on the number of students who attend 2- and 4-year colleges, universities, and community colleges, and the number who graduate. In return, states will agree to maintain current higher education spending, hold tuition increases to the overall inflation rate, and spend the funds on two purposes -- making college more affordable and increasing the number of graduates.

The block grant will provide states an average of roughly $2,000 per student, which -- along with the new $3,000 college tax credit outlined below -- will offset most of the tuition cost at the typical 4-year public college. With the block grant, states would be able to make 4 years of college tuition-free for students willing to work part-time or perform community service.

A Single, Refundable $3,000 College Tuition Tax Credit

To help students and families pay for college, Washington has layered one new tax break upon another and created a confusing, often contradictory system. There is no uniform definition of qualifying education expenses, different income limitations for different incentives, and much of this assistance comes with massive bureaucracy attached.

To make college as universal as high school, college aid needs to be simpler and more generous. We should simplify the tax code by replacing the HOPE tax credit, the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, and the higher education deduction with a single, refundable $3,000 college tuition tax credit to help offset undergraduate and graduate costs for all families. This new credit will cover up to 4 years of college, graduate school, and training. Net cost: $70-80 billion over 10 years.

Holding Colleges and Students Accountable for Results

In return for this unprecedented increase in college aid, we must raise expectations for colleges and students alike, and address the high proportion of college students who leave without a degree. Students who don't finish college don't earn much more than their counterparts who never entered. We must challenge young Americans to go to college and graduate, and challenge colleges to do their part to make it happen. Colleges need to publish complete data on their success rates, and schools with chronically low graduation rates must present a strategy to increase them. Colleges should provide truth-in-tuition by setting multi-year tuition and fee levels so incoming freshmen know how much 4 years of college will cost.

We also need to invest in reforming our elementary and secondary schools to put more students on the road to college. That means smaller schools, higher standards for teachers as well as higher pay, and courses aligned with the demands of college and employers. We should make it easier for students to take college courses while still in high school, and offer them more rigor and more relevance as they choose a career path.

Helping Non-Traditional Students Succeed

The U.S. Census indicates that every year of post-secondary education raises a worker's annual earnings. Helping these students succeed is not only good for the families that rely on them; it is essential to our economic prosperity.

Non-traditional students are becoming the norm on college campuses; the percentage of non-traditional students -- excluding those participating in adult education that will not lead to a credential or degree -- has increased to 47 percent in 2001 from 34 percent in 1991. These undergraduates are more likely to be balancing school with work (40 percent work full-time, up from just a quarter) and parenting (27 percent have children, up from 20 percent) than they were 15 years ago. These students face unique challenges to completing college -- affordability; balancing work, school, and family responsibilities; overcoming inadequate academic preparation; and navigating the college environment.

We should pass Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton's Non-Traditional Student Success Act, a comprehensive bill to help students who are attending college while raising children, working while studying, or facing other such challenges. This legislation would make Pell Grants available year-round, boost awareness and information about available financial aid, provide financial aid to students who are attending school part-time, and expand access to child care by providing supplemental grants for working parents with young children. In addition, this legislation would create incentives for institutions to customize their courses to help students successfully complete remedial work and graduate into academic programs.

Cut and Invest: Cutting Wasteful Corporate Subsidies to Invest in America's Competitive Edge

To provide opportunity for all Americans, we must hold Washington accountable for the Responsibility Era this administration promised but never even tried to deliver. Over the last five years, the national debt has more than doubled. The Bush administration ushered in runaway spending and tax cuts for the wealthy, putting us deep in debt to our economic competitors even as we must fight a prolonged war on terror.

A country built on its belief in the future shouldn't be doling out special interest favors that will leave us worse off down the road. If we're willing to restore accountability to government, we can cut the deficit and make important long-term investments at the same time.

• Cutting Wasteful Corporate Subsidies

This administration and Congress have turned Washington into a cash machine for narrow interests. The U.S. now spends scores of billions every year on wasteful corporate subsidies that distort the market and discourage competition. We need to create an independent, non-partisan commission to scrutinize and propose the elimination of wasteful, outdated business subsidies. By presenting its recommendations to Congress for an up-or-down vote, this commission would produce an estimated $200 to $250 billion in savings over 10 years.

Why College Matters

When we think of the pillars of the American Dream, college is the most desired and least attained. About 70 percent of Americans own their home. About 85 percent have health care. An estimated 42 percent own retirement accounts. But only about 30 percent have achieved the dream that can do the most to make other dreams possible and put other worries to rest -- a college degree.

• A College Degree Means a Higher Income:
  
  • Over the past three decades, virtually all economic and income gains have gone to college graduates.
  
  
  • The income gap between college graduates and high school graduates has more than doubled since 1980. College graduates now earn nearly twice as much as high school graduates -- an extra $20,000 per year. Those with some college education but no degree enjoy little of that advantage and have seen little gain.
  
  
  • For today's 22-year-old, a college degree means a million-dollar bonus over the course of a career.
• College Is the Key to Better Jobs:
  
  • Producing more college graduates will make our economy grow faster by driving innovation and attracting more high-value, high-paid jobs.
  
  
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 42 percent of the new jobs this decade will require postsecondary education, as compared to 29 percent of all jobs in 2000.
• The College Dropout Rate Is a Growing Problem:
  
  • As The New York Times has noted, nearly a third of Americans in their mid-20s are college dropouts. When the Census Bureau began keeping track in the late 1960s, the rate was one in five.
  
  
  • The Education Department found high-income students are over 50 percent more likely than low-income students to graduate in 5 years.
  
  
  • Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has made some progress in the percentage of young people who go to college, but college graduation rates haven't kept pace. About 9 million students attend 4-year colleges full-time, roughly two-thirds of them at public institutions. Each year, approximately 1.4 million of those students graduate -- 900,000 from public institutions, 500,000 from private ones. About 500,000 students a year drop out of 4-year colleges.
  
  
  • Too many students don't go to college because it costs too much, and too many who do go don't finish. Between 1980 and 2005, college tuition costs increased faster than inflation every single year. Half of all full-time public college undergraduates take out student loans, averaging $5,600 per year.

Abandoned in our time of need

To the editor,

No matter which side of the stem cell debate you are on, if you live in the Bay Area you should be angry that you had no representation in the Congressional vote about stem cell research last week. Regardless of whether you support advanced research that may save lives or oppose it, you had no Congressional Representative listening to your concerns and voting on this significant issue.

You have no representation in Congress because Tom DeLay and the Republican Party are conspiring to replace him with a new GOP candidate without the scandals that engulf DeLay. To “game” the election system, DeLay, with the collusion of the Republican Party, actually quit as our Congressional Representative before the end of this term.

DeLay and the GOP abandoned the voters of the 22^nd congressional district as we face huge issues such as the costly wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon; recovery from Rita and Katrina and hurricane protection now, terrorism of Osama bin Laden and security such as at the Port of Houston, record high gas prices and energy prices, a US economy adrift and exporting good jobs overseas, and a national deficit and debt spinning out of control.

We were all abandoned now simply so that they might find a “new Tom Delay” for November’s ballot. You ought to be mad at the co-conspirators who left you with no representation in such a time of need.

Pete

GOP Partisans Trying to Influence Federal Appeals Court

As always the GOP will do anything to win. Now the Harris County Republican Party in Houston has undertaken a campaign to influence federal appeals court justices. Don't they get it, as the Houston Chronicle says below, "...Texas law prevents parties from replacing unpopular primary winners such as DeLay with stronger candidates — exactly what the state GOP is trying to do." Even Texas election law says it is illegal for a party to elect one candidate to the ballot in primary, then have another "closed door" system to select another candidate when the first one decide's he's no longer competitive.

July 20, 2006, 8:17PM
Follow the law
Inappropriate efforts to influence federal appellate judges in DeLay ballot case taint judicial process.

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

IN an evenhanded decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the Texas redistricting plan but invalidated one district that illegally reduced Hispanic voting power. The ruling displayed the court's ability to mete out impartial justice in a politically charged case. Unfortunately, some politicians seem to think an appeal to partisanship can influence how the federal courts rule.

A blatant example can be seen on the Harris County Republican Party Web site. It invites viewers to send a petition to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals jurists who will decide whether former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay must remain on the November ballot as the GOP candidate for the 22nd District. The petition declares, "Each day that goes by with Democrats perverting the process and denying the public their choice of candidates is a travesty of justice. This deliberate subversion undermines the will of the people and sets a horrible precedent for future elections."

The petition goes on to urge the justices to remove an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, a Republican appointee, keeping DeLay on the ballot. It also asks the court to declare the Republican ballot position officially vacant and allow district voters a fair choice of candidates.

The notion that judges can be influenced by a partisan petition is repugnant to the concept of an independent judiciary. The state GOP is represented in its appeal by a team of qualified lawyers. If Harris County party officials succeeded in affecting the outcome through such tactics, it would constitute a real subversion of the system and a truly horrible precedent for future litigation.

Equally misguided is Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's decision to intervene in the case. He has every right to file a friend of the court brief, but his stated reason shows a slight grasp of the particulars of the case.

A spokeswoman for Abbott said Sparks had declared a portion of the Texas election code unconstitutional. In fact, neither the Democratic Party that sued to keep DeLay on the ballot nor the judge made that argument.

The judge actually ruled that the U.S. Constitution sets eligibility for congressional candidates and that a candidate's residency can be determined only on Election Day. GOP officials had declared DeLay ineligible after he won the party primary but moved his official residence to Virginia. DeLay and his wife continue to maintain their house in Sugar Land.

For the Texas attorney general to use the resources of the state to help his party win a favorable court judgment would be an intolerable conflict of interest. If Abbott does file a brief, it should recognize that Texas law prevents parties from replacing unpopular primary winners such as DeLay with stronger candidates — exactly what the state GOP is trying to do.

The credibility of American justice rests on judges' impartiality, both real and perceived. Attempts to influence the outcome — whether through petitions or briefs filed by elected officials seeking partisan advantage — only damage that credibility.

Private Contract for CHIPS should be revoked

In standard GOP style the Republicans of Texas "privitized" the management of the Children's Health Insurance Program purportedly to save the state money, but truly to deny support to the state's poor, especially children and the elderly. As with all GOP strategies in the era of W, there's a corporation sucking away at the state's money and ensuring that the true beneficiaries don't get the aid they need.

This contract should be revoked by the state of Texas, and the remaining funds should be used to rebuild the state system that cares more about the people than corporate profits.

Houston Chronicle Editorial

July 16, 2006, 8:33PM
Second thoughts
Absent remarkable improvement, the state should cancel the massive contract with a private company hired to screen applicants for state assistance.

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Since the Texas Health and Human Services Commission approved an $899 million contract with a consortium led by Bermuda-based Accenture, very little has gone right. The people who've paid for the blunders are the state's poor, particularly children and the elderly.

Since the state instituted the privatization effort, enrollment and reinstatement rates in the Children's Health Insurance Program have slumped; hundreds of persons have erroneously been denied Medicaid and food stamp eligibility; and applications were mistakenly directed to a Seattle warehouse. Planned layoffs of state caseworkers, which were supposed to result in big savings, were canceled as overwhelmed call centers were forced to return thousands of cases to state employees.

Now 60 Texas state representatives, including eight from Houston, have signed a letter to Health and Human Services Commissioner Albert Hawkins calling for the Texas Access Alliance headed by Accenture to pay the ultimate price by having the contract revoked. The missive, written by Rep. Patrick Haggerty, R-El Paso, asks Hawkins "to cancel the contract with Accenture for nonperformance and commit the remaining resources to rebuilding the human services eligibility system that, as little as two years ago, was among the best in the country."

A group of 30 Republican legislators, including some in the leadership team of House Speaker Tom Craddick, earlier sent out their own letter supporting Accenture. Craddick has defended the contractor in comments to the Houston Chronicle editorial board and Gov. Rick Perry also opposes canceling the contract. So far more than $90 million has been paid to the group. Commissioner Hawkins has said state officials are considering levying penalties against Accenture for its performance.

In attempting to minimize the damage, Hawkins delayed full implementation of the contract and postponed the layoff of state workers for a year. It's now clear that the sweeping privatization plan approved by HHS commissioners has harmed the access of poor Texans to critical safety net services and failed to provide the big savings that were the deal's rationale.

At minimum, HHS officials need to develop much tighter monitoring procedures of the new call centers to guarantee proper handling of applications and eligibility screening. Accenture should be financially penalized for its failure to meet promised service levels and its contract revoked if problems continue.

It is all in the numbers...

The Numbers say it is time to vote Democratic for a CHANGE!

Gas prices

Democrats: Average about $1.40 a gallon through Clinton years, even as low as $1.20 at one point.

Republicans: Starting at less than $1.20 after 9/11, prices have climbed steadily to highs of $3.00 and above.

Zfacts.com

Minimum wage

Democrats: Raised slowly from $3.80 to $5.15 in 1998

Republicans: Last increase was to $5.15 during Clinton administration; no increase beyond $5.15 since Bush came into power

USgovinfo.com

Iraq War casualties – US military

Number of deaths: 2,547

Number of injured: 10,246 as of 7/5/05

Iraq War civilian casualties – contractor (non-military)

Number of deaths: 341 (incomplete list)

Number of injured: unknown

Icasualties.org

Abortion rate

Abortions : 1.36 Million in 1992 - .86 million in 2000

Decrease of: 500,000 abortions

Abortions : .85 Million in 2001 - .85 million in 2002

Decrease of: no change – new date not available

CDC.gov/mmwr

Illegal Immigration into US

Clinton years: Total of 8 million illegals in 2000, increased about .5 m per year

www.cis.org/topics/illegalimmigration.html

Bush years: 11-12 million in US in 2005, increased at about .8 m per year

www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1405.html

Nationalize the Election

Latest AP/ISOS Poll says Americans want to Replace GOP with Democrats in Congress. The trick here is that Democrats need to remind all local voters that it is George Bush and the GOP's failed strategies and unethical actions that have destroyed our country's reputation and power worldwide. The Democrats need to persuade local voters the problem is ALL Republican office-holders who've worked lockstep over the last decade to flush our nation down the tubes.

The Ds need to get tough and tell it like it is, and don't let even a couple whiners try to complain about finally showing the caskets (the proof) that Americans are dying daily for a war based on Presidential lies...

Poll: Americans want Democrats in power

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer Fri Jul 14, 8:42 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November. With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.

Further complicating the GOP outlook to turn things around is a solid percentage of liberals, moderates and even conservatives who say they'll vote Democratic. The party out of power also holds the edge among persuadable voters, a prospect that doesn't bode well for the Republicans.

The election ultimately will be decided in 435 House districts and 33 Senate contests, in which incumbents typically hold the upper hand. But the survey underscored the difficulty Republicans face in trying to persuade a skeptical public to return them to Washington.

The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults conducted Monday through Wednesday found that

President Bush" type="hidden"> SEARCH
News | News Photos | Images | Web

" type="hidden">

President Bush has stopped his political freefall, with his approval rating of 36 percent basically unchanged from last month. Bush received slightly higher marks for his handling of the

Iraq

" type="hidden"> SEARCH
News | News Photos | Images | Web

" type="hidden">

Iraq war and the fight against terrorism, weeks after his surprise trip to Baghdad and the killing of Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. airstrike last month.

But a Democratic takeover of either the House or Senate would be disastrous for the president, leaving both his agenda for the last two years in office and the chairmanship of investigative committees in the hands of the opposition party. To seize control of Congress, the Democrats must displace 15 Republicans from House seats and six Republicans from the Senate.

The AP-Ipsos survey asked 789 registered voters if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district. Democrats were favored 51 percent to 40 percent.

Not surprisingly, 81 percent of self-described liberals said they would vote for the Democrat. Among moderates, though, 56 percent backed a Democrat in their district and almost a quarter of conservatives — 24 percent — said they will vote Democratic.

Democrats also held the advantage among persuadable voters — those who are undecided or wouldn't say whom they prefer. A total of 51 percent said they were leaning Democrat, while 41 percent were leaning Republican.

"We still have wind in our face. It's a midterm election in the president's second term," said Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Today is a little bit better in the atmospherics of Washington than it was maybe a month ago."

The president's party historically has lost seats in the sixth year of his service. Franklin D. Roosevelt lost 72 House seats in 1938; Dwight D. Eisenhower 48 in 1958. The exception was

Bill Clinton" type="hidden"> SEARCH
News | News Photos | Images | Web

" type="hidden">

Bill Clinton in 1998.

By another comparison, polls in 1994 — when a Republican tidal wave swept Democrats from power — the two parties were in a dead heat in July on the question of whom voters preferred in their district.

"It comes down to a fairly simply question: Can Democrats nationalize all the elections? If Republicans prevent that, they have a shot. If they don't, they lose," said Doug Gross, the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Iowa in 2002 and the state finance director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.

Overall, only 27 percent approved of the way Congress is doing its job. Lawmakers get favorable marks from 36 percent of conservatives, 28 percent of moderates and 17 percent of liberals.

Some criticism of Congress has focused on lawmakers' inability to control spending, with lawmakers tucking in special projects for their home districts.

"They used to say there's nothing worse than a tax-and-spend liberal Democrat," said Gary Wilson, 51, a self-described liberal from Gaithersburg, Md. "There is something worse: It's a borrow-and-spend Republican. This is going to come back to haunt us."

One bright spot for the GOP is that Republicans hold an advantage over Democrats on issues such as foreign policy and fighting terrorism — 43 percent to 33 percent — and a smaller edge on handling Iraq — 36 percent to 32 percent.

The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted after the divisive Democratic debate in the Senate over setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. Potential voters were paying attention to the GOP complaint that Democrats want to "cut and run."

"It seems like the Democrats want to pull out or start to pull out, and I don't think that's the correct thing to do," said Eric Bean, 24, a college minister in Fort Worth, Texas. "I'd much rather see a Congress that would support our president. I think

George Bush" type="hidden"> SEARCH
News | News Photos | Images | Web

" type="hidden">

George Bush is doing the best he can. I think Republicans will support him."

John Dendahl, the Republican candidate for governor in New Mexico, said Democrats, with the help of some Republicans, have been successful at obstructing legislation in Congress while heaping the blame on the GOP.

Tom Courtney, a Democratic state senator in Iowa, said U.S. voters are ready to trust his party to lead.

"I honestly think it's ours to lose," Courtney said. "My experience, we're not above that. Americans are ready for change."

The poll of adults had a margin of error of 3 percentage points and the survey of registered voters had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Time for a Return to Greatness!

It is time for America to regain its greatness. Bush and his cronies have taken the country in an amazing spiral since 2000. It seems that on any issues the country has been dragged backwards by Bush actions.