A Special to GAPol from Congressman Drew Ferguson
Restoring the Dignity of Work By Congressman Drew Ferguson, GA-3
The American dream is our nation’s most enduring promise. But, too many people are struggling to turn the American dream into a reality.
After my hometown and the surrounding area lost its manufacturing jobs, I watched family, friends and neighbors live through this scenario in my hometown. Many others in the Third District of Georgia can tell a similar story. For the first time in generations, more people move into poverty than into the middle class. Failing schools, broken neighborhoods and loss of hope take hold. The dignity of work is replaced by the indignity of dependence. The once tightly woven fabric of the community is slowly ripped apart, and people begin to look for someone or something to blame. As this happens around the nation, our national fabric is torn and feels a lot like a tattered Old Glory flapping in the ever-changing breeze.
Well I think it’s time to change our mindset. Instead of casting blame for our struggles, let us set a pathway forward. Let us make sure that the promises we made can be kept. Let us have the courage to have honest conversations and commit to fixing what is broken.
At the heart of this conversation is our broken welfare system. This system perpetuates the cycle of generational poverty and tells millions of Americans that self-sufficiency will always be just out of reach.
The dignity of work is an essential part of the American experience. Our nation was built by generations of doers, but our current welfare system is robbing our fellow citizens of their ability to contribute to society. This is morally wrong. Together, I want to build a safety net that empowers people to create better lives for themselves, their families and their communities.
I want to be clear. This does not mean pulling the rug out from under people. It means giving them the tools they need to succeed in our modern economy.
This conversation begins with you. This year, I will hold events to hear from local leaders and everyday Georgians about how the federal government can reform welfare programs to end the cycle of generational poverty rather than perpetuate it.
I firmly believe that every issue we face as a nation can be resolved. Together, communities can find a way forward. Americans are hungry for meaningful work and the opportunity to unleash their limitless human potential. It is time to recognize there are no quick fixes, no silver bullets and that we must have the courage to be honest with one another about what it takes to allow every citizen the opportunity to thrive.
We have big problems and real issues to solve. But just as demoralizing the loss of hope is, the restoration of hope is ever more powerful. We have the tools and will-power to restore faith in the American dream, and it’s time for us to get to work.
About Author
Theresa Garcia Robertson
Wife. Mama. Foodie. Political Junkie. Southern Enthusiast. Taco Lover.
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The backstory is that it’s time to do something about the average $150 billion a year increase in the deficit due to new tax law, and who better than the poor can suck it up.
TL;DR – just passed a $1T tax bill without a way to pay for it, seeking ideas on how to cut spending, cutting welfare programs appeals to my (donor) “base” (even though my constituents probably depend on them), abstractly mention something about working Americans, and….send.
I will take this type of rhetoric seriously if his idea for “putting people back to work” includes some type of New Deal infrastructure-style program, but I’m not hopeful.
Congressman, can you explain to me how this would be an improvement to the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act” passed in 1996 and component of the ‘Contract with America’? There is already a work component with in TANK, which was further streamed lined in 2005 under a deficit reduction act to make it even more work based while reducing and cutting what was seen as over extensions of lifetime Medicaid cost, If I recall correctly in 2011 or 2012, the HHS allowed states to have more leeway in how it used and enforced it’s TANF funds through education/training and workforce requirements (some increased, some decreased if other factors were involved) in responds to the recession and state budget issues.
Can you, in detail, explain how your bill is going to be different from what has been done in prior bills in the last 25 years that claimed would also ‘reform welfare programs to end the cycle of generational poverty rather than perpetuate it’ as you stated? The battle cry of big business and the local Chambers of Commerce all through the 1994 election until the bill passed was all about restoring the American work ethic. Again, this was a corner stone of the Contract with America. If the reform didn’t work, what are you suggesting to make it work now?
He doesn’t have a bill. He is going to travel around the state and have meetings. Which means this is an exercise in name recognition, i.e. he’s going to be running for something statewide soon.
I have much more to say (on a serious note) but no time today!
Exec summary: The priority for addressing job losses is to make people feel better about getting unemployment/welfare?
Many small towns find ways to stimulate their economies; Get the leaders together-banker, mayor, real estate developer- and do low interest loans to renovate old spaces and attract new business for the storefront. But most of all- find a vision. Film festival, river tours, zip lines, Victorian house tour, Shakespeare festival, a million things. Look at Helen, or lookout Mountain, or Pine Mountain, or Andersonville… every town has a story. (I think Martin, GA should have a moonshine theme. Big bags of sugar everywhere, old hot rods… imagine the possibilities.)
Long term, I think there simply won’t be enough work for everyone. Art, culture and education largely for the sake of education could serve to provide a substitute for employment for many people, but it won’t pay enough with our current system.
A little off-subject from your comment, but automation is ever creeping upward in fields of employment. Manufacturing has already been largely decimated. Good service employment is being hit.
Automation is creeping into professions like law, medicine and engineering. True AI will be crushing.
A problem we’ve been facing since the 1970’s is capital reaping an ever-more disproportionate share of technical and productivity improvements. Wages have been stagnating generally from the bottom up within the hierarchy of employment.
Some portion of Trumpism is self-supporting people (at least they think they are, or those that are close to it) seeing public assistance in the future, perhaps subconsciously. They’re fearful and angry, and not unexpectedly after 30 years of immersion in disparagement of assistance and its unavoidable integration into their worldview.