Originally published by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Neither our modern policy debates nor the structure of our modern social welfare system realizes the true vision of American opportunity and policymaking.
The major celebrations of America’s 250th have passed, but the feelings of love of country and hope for the future that they inspired shouldn’t. In fact, what we do as Americans in the days, months and years after the 250th celebration is arguably far more important.
As such, my greatest hope for America as we look to the future is twofold: We must overcome the culture of political contempt and find ways to achieve consensus that protects America as the land of opportunity for all, for generations to come.
I believe that at its core, the full promise of America can be boiled down to two principles: freedom and opportunity. The 250th celebration honors the aspirational ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Those principles, coupled with the constitutional structure that gives them practical force in government and public policy, offer the essential foundation for America’s promise of freedom.
America’s moniker as the “land of opportunity” was organically born out of generations of people pursuing the promise of American opportunity, seeking work and the chance to earn their own success. In the words of Arthur Brooks, “were they steaming into Ellis Island saying, ‘Sure is great to be in America where I can get a better system of forced income redistribution?’ Not so much.”
Even the 1964 launch of the War on Poverty by President Lyndon B. Johnson echoes this message of American opportunity: “The war on poverty is not a struggle simply to support people, to make them dependent on the generosity of others. It is a struggle to give people a chance. It is an effort to allow them to develop and use their capacities, as we have been allowed to develop and use ours, so that they can share, as others share, in the promise of this nation.”
But neither our modern policy debates nor the structure of our modern social welfare system realizes the true vision of American opportunity and policymaking.
Public issue debates default to hyperpolarized contempt, or what Brooks called the “outrage industrial complex” in his 2019 book “Love Your Enemies.”
And our social safety net — though well-intentioned and administered by dedicated state officials earnestly working to help impoverished families — doesn’t yet realize the aspirational vision of the war on poverty. Research shows that more than 1 in 5 American low-wage workers on public benefits have limited their economic progression due to fear of benefit cliffs. Families at times struggle with the complicated web of programs that even experienced administrators acknowledge is difficult to navigate. And would-be reformers must deal with multiple federal agencies and various congressional committees when seeking improvements to the social welfare system.
In a new Sutherland Institute report, “The Safety Net We’d Build Today: Empowerment Accounts as a State-Led Pilot Concept,” I propose a dual-track approach to fix these issues and take vital steps toward realizing the full vision of America’s war on poverty.
First, states should embrace their role as innovators in social welfare reform.
New Sutherland/Y2 Analytics survey data in the report show that 75% of voters across the U.S. and 74% in Utah believe the federal government should give more flexibility to states over social safety-net programs. Nationally, 65% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support federal reform that would allow states to combine safety-net funds to test new approaches to addressing poverty and increasing upward mobility. In Utah, 69% of both Democrats and Republicans support the idea.
Second, this kind of broadly popular state flexibility should be used to test, in a targeted state pilot program, empowerment accounts — which would consolidate multiple public assistance programs into a single, streamlined cash assistance program that is temporary, targeted and pro-work.
Supermajorities of Democrats and Republicans in Utah and nationwide (between 70% and 80%) support the idea of an empowerment account pilot, according to our survey.
Such broad, bipartisan majority support for a solution framework to one of the nation’s most important domestic policy issues — addressing poverty by increasing upward mobility — may be surprising in our polarized era, but it shouldn’t be.
Moving toward a streamlined social welfare system that helps struggling families while better supporting the goal of work and independence, as envisioned in the war on poverty, is grounded in the deeply American principles of work, independence and compassion.
If members of Congress, state legislators, governors and voters in Utah and across the United States recommit to the American promise of opportunity — while also embracing the need to reduce contempt and seek the consensus that the American people are ready for — we can begin to heal our toxic political culture while strengthening the promise of American opportunity for generations yet to come.
