The Assualt on Social Policy PDF
Preview The Assualt on Social Policy
The AssAulT on sociAl Policy Second edition The Assault on Social Policy Second edition William Roth and Susan J. Peters columbia univerS ity PreSS n ew york columbia univerSity PreSS Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2014 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Roth, William, 1942– The Assault on social policy / William Roth and Susan J. Peters. — Second Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-16006-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-16007-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-53797-1 (e-book) 1. United States—Social policy—1993– 2. Business and politics—United States. 3. Corporations—Political activity—United States. I. Title. HN65.R66 2014 303.3ʹ72—dc23 2013048914 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. This book is printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover design: Elliot Strunk References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. dedicated to the 99 Percent contents Foreword by Senator bernie SanderS ix acknowledgmentS xi introduction xiii chapter one ▶ Policy 1 chapter two ▶ Corporations 20 chapter three ▶ Poverty 47 chapter four ▶ Welfare 67 chapter five ▶ Disability 86 chapter six ▶ Social Security 105 chapter seven ▶ Health 120 chapter eight ▶ Children 141 chapter nine ▶ Education 159 viii contentS chapter ten ▶ Outsiders 171 chapter eleven ▶ Democratic Change 187 noteS 207 index 223 foreword the assault on social policy is even more relevant today, in its sec- ond edition, than it was ten years ago. In the first edition, William Roth investigated poverty, welfare, health, the social security system, and dis- ability in children. I was impressed then and I am impressed now by his analysis of economic politics, the role of corporations in shaping public life, the media, and the globalization of our economic policies. Roth and Susan Peters contribute to elevating the debate regarding social policy at the pres- ent critical historical hour. Since William Roth wrote the first edition of The Assault on Social Policy, America has lived through two major wars in Iraq and Afghani- stan and suffered the most sustained systematic economic downturn since the Great Depression, which has left millions upon millions of Americans without jobs and millions of others without decent housing. The progressive approach that Roth and Peters argue for has been less successful than many Americans had hoped for with the election of President Obama and a strong progressive presence in the U.S. House of Representa- tives. We have witnessed an unprecedented assault, at least in my lifetime, on the public policies needed to assure a decent society and hopeful future for most Americans. With the financial assistance of some of the wealthi- est people in America, a bitter right-wing reaction and full-scale assault on the rights of workers, teachers, women, and the poor has risen to the surface. Regrettably, the first edition of this book has proven all too painfully pre- scient. When President Obama said a couple of weeks after his first inaugural that the Republicans had a choice between cooperating with him or staying at home and listening to Rush Limbaugh, many of them chose the latter.
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