We don’t often talk about tax reform in the realm of economic development and social mobility. However, my colleague, Paul Weinstien Jr. has argued that President-elect Obama should do just that: use tax reform as a way to spur the economy and make America a more pro-work and pro-family nation. In his “Memo to the Next President” Weinstein writes:

One way to address our economic troubles, reduce our deficits, and invest in our future is to get serious about tax policy.

And this does not just mean cutting taxes. Sure, when you were on the campaign trail, you and your opponent got into all kinds of arguments over who would cut taxes more deeply and for more people. That is an American political tradition that goes all the way back to the Boston Tea Party.

But we need something more fundamental now, something rather revolutionary in its own right. Now that the campaign is over and you are getting down to the hard business of governing at a time of grave economic uncertainty, you need to think not merely of cutting taxes, but of reforming our entire tax system.

His three-part plan includes:

• Reducing the “thicket of current tax breaks” to four core incentives that focus on true economic priorities.

These new tax breaks would include the College Tax Credit - a $4,000 fully refundable credit to offset the cost of college; a Mortgage Interest Credit (MIC), which would extend the home-mortgage deduction to non-itemizing homeowners; the Family Tax Credit, which would combine the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care credit to one more generous benefit; and a Universal Pension that would replace the 16 IRA-type accounts with one portable pension plan.

• Enacting a middle-class tax cut that remedies the current imbalance between labor income and investment income.

The Obama tax cut plan proposed during the campaign can’t be completely financed by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the top one percent of earners.  Thus, Weinstein proposes an additional offset: a securities-transaction tax.

• Simplifying business taxation.

This would be done by creating a “loop-hole closing commission” (similar to the BRAC commission) with the task of cutting the business tax structure down to a single rate.

Read his full memo here.

Today is hump day, so that means it’s time once again to look at a social mobility success story. For this installment of “What Works Wednesdays” we will focus on the connection between fathers and child development. Research shows that fathers play a vital and irreplaceable role in their child’s wellbeing. It’s is no surprise that children with absent fathers are:

• Five times more likely to be poor
• 54 percent more likely to grow up poorer than their parents
• Have a greater chance of incarceration
• More likely to become pregnant as a teen
• More likely to drop out of school

Absent fathers put a strain not only on their immediate families, but on society at large. A recent study by the late Steven Nock and Christopher Einolf shows that fatherlessness cost society an alarming $99.8 billion in direct and indirect costs during fiscal year 2006.

On the flip side, if absent fathers create hardship, responsible dads create enormous benefits. That’s why a group of more than 450,000 dads have decided to volunteer in more than 800 schools as part of the Watch DOGS (Dads Of Great Students) initiative. These dads serve at least one day each year in a variety of school activities ranging from mentoring, to monitoring hallways and assisting in the lunchroom.

Last week, ABC’s World News Tonight featured this organization started by Jim Moore and Eric Snow, two Arkansas parents. These dads have not only seen a difference in their children, but in the many kids without active fathers. They are convinced:

the program helps many children who don’t have fathers at home.

“We know that when a child has an active male role model who is highly involved in their life, that those children are going to develop more fully — academically, emotionally and socially,” said Snow.

The National Educators Association also heralds the involvement of dad’s in schools. They note:

The more involved a father is with the student’s activities at school the greater the likelihood of the student’s success. The study actually indicated that when a father is involved with activities, the child is more likely to be a straight A student.

Responsible fatherhood and social mobility are inextricably linked.  Obviously, it is most beneficial when a child’s real dad is involved in their lives and their school, but often that is not the reality. Today, there are 25 million children in this country who live apart from their biological fathers.  Watch DOGS is just one example of a program that can help these kids.

Today, the US Department of Agriculture released a report showing that 11.1 percent (13 million households) struggled to provide food for themselves and their families at some point during 2007. Of the 13 million food insecure households, 4.7 million had very low food security meaning:

the food intake of some household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns disrupted because of the household’s food insecurity.

In other words, 4.7 million households went hungry at some point during the year - a population that has steadily grown over the last decade.

The number of hungry children also risen. During 2007, 691,000 children faced low food security, an increase of 60 percent since 2000.

Unfortunately these numbers understate the actual amount of hunger today, because they were taken before this year’s sharp economic downturn.

Democratic lawmakers have pushed for a second stimulus package that includes more money for food stamps.  The chances of passing the bill during this lame duck session are slim, but let’s hope today’s news will spur them to action.

This Friday, members of the Nebraska state legislature will convene in a special session to amended its now famous safe-haven law.  The law, signed by the governor this July, was intended to protect newborns. Like other state safe-haven laws, it allows parents to give up infants without fear of prosecution.

The wording in the Nebraska bill however, has created unintended consequences and opened a Pandora’s box revealing the troubles facing many desperate families. This particular law:

extended the protection to “children,” meaning up to age 18, rather than specifying a maximum age of a few days or months.

Since July, 35 children from all over the country, ranging in age from 5 to 17, have been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals. At first blush, you have to wonder what type of person could drive their child half way across the country to leave them as wards of the state. Yet, reading their stories reveals deep and tragic problems of mental health issues, insufficient family and economic support, and complete distress and desperation.

The Washington Post reports that:

Of the first 30 children abandoned in Nebraska, 27 had received mental health services; 28 came from single-parent homes; and 22 had a parent or guardian who had been jailed.

Clearly, Nebraska must make changes to its law. As states face severe budget deficits, they can’t afford to care for abandoned children from all over the country. Yet, this experience has exposed a wound that the entire nation must examine:

• How do we support parents and families so that they don’t find themselves in these situations?
• How do we make sure parents have better access to existing state support services?
• How do we increase respite care opportunities?
• How do we make sure psychiatric services are widely available?
• How do we promote strong marriages and best support single parents?
• How do we care for children of prisoners so that we can break the cycle of incarceration?

Today’s Veterans Day series post focuses on the unique challenges facing female veterans, specifically as they leave active duty and transition into the workforce. Between 1980 and 2007, the number of women veterans increased from 1.1 million to 1.7 million. Yet, women policies and programs for veterans haven’t necessarily changed as the population of service members diversifies.

The Business and Professional Women’s Foundation (BPW) has produced a publication that highlights why a one-size all approach isn’t always the best for women veterans:

Women make up 15 percent of the active military and are a growing segment of the veteran population. However, many programs and policies were set up to meet the needs of male veterans from a different era. Shaping programs and policies to meet the needs of a new generation of veterans while maintaining strong support for existing veterans will be an ongoing challenge for decision makers in the first half of the 21st Century.

For example, the BPW reports:

While the official physical separation occurs within a limited time frame, results from a recent survey of women veterans indicates that the psychological transition can take place over an extended period of time - even for those who have successfully secured post-military employment. Standardized transition activities may not take into account the full breadth and range of the needs of women veterans. Additionally, certain characteristics of women veterans, such as marital status or education level, seem to play a significant role in determining the choices made during the transition between the military and the civilian workforce.

Women are more likely to delay the transition from active duty to the civilian workforce than men. And women without college degrees and those with a short military career need the most support in finding work.

We still need further research to help us understand how to best assist the female military and veteran population. However, these findings can guide policymakers and serve as a reminder that veterans are not a homogenous group. Therefore, programs should be flexible and easily tailored to meet the needs of all former service members.

In today’s Washington Post, conservative columnist and former Bush speechwriter, opines about the next steps for the Obama transition team and administration. He writes:

Political indifference to durable poverty in our midst has long been a scandal; from Obama it would be a tragedy. America does need to “spread the wealth” — but not in the simply redistributionist sense. The racial divide in our country is widest when it comes to assets. The median net worth of white and Asian Americans in 2004 was $142,700. The median net worth of African Americans was $20,400. There are many reasons for this massive disparity, including what Lincoln called centuries of “unrequited toil.” Reparations are a politically self-destructive dead end. But what if President Obama, for example, proposed to set up tax-free savings accounts for every poor child at birth and seeded those accounts with a few thousand dollars? Addressing the wealth gap through the miracle of compound interest would be a lasting contribution to the justice of our country.

My colleague, Jason Newman, and I offered a similar policy proposal in our chapter published in Big Ideas for Children: Investing in our Nation’s Future. Check it out here.

Today’s post in the “What Works Wednesday” series focuses on universal school breakfast.

Numerous studies have shown the importance of a balanced breakfast. Children who skip breakfast and experience hunger are more likely to have slower memory recall, score lower on math and cognitive tests, and exhibit behavioral and emotional problems. So it makes sense then, that kids who eat breakfast have improved cognitive function, attention and memory, score better on math and vocabulary tests and are more likely to participate in classroom activities.

Children from low-income families are most likely to skip breakfast, which serves to exacerbate the achievement gap. Even though low-income students are eligible for free breakfast, many do not participate because of accessibility (not every school offers free breakfast) and because of the stigma associated with accepting government provided meals. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC):

Only 44 children eat federally-funded free or reduced price school breakfasts for every 100 who receive free or reduced price school lunch.

However, school districts that provide universal breakfast have a much higher breakfast participation rate. Portland, Oregon has a 98 percent participation rate. Newark, New Jersey serves breakfast to 94 percent of their students. Both school systems have universal free breakfast that is served in the classroom.

Schools that serve universal breakfast have fewer behavior problems and students that are more focused and ready to learn. But there are also other financial benefits. First, a universal policy eliminates bureaucracy and reduces paperwork, saving districts time and money. Also, as the U.S Conference of Mayors notes:

The good news is that school breakfast is a low-cost intervention. When schools reach 80 percent participation, the program pays for itself. And more importantly, school breakfast brings in significant federal dollars into cities and towns that are facing shrinking budgets and severe state cutbacks. With schools under pressure to find innovative and inexpensive ways to demonstrate high performance, it only makes sense for schools to take full advantage of this program.

Universal breakfast not only ensures that every child, regardless of his or her socioeconomic status, starts each day with a nutritious meal, but it also frees up family discretionary income. As the economy continues to sour and pocketbooks tighten, this is a policy everyone can get behind.

In the second part of the Veterans Day series, let’s take a look at the complicated maze returning service members must complete in order to get medical care. More than 30,000 troops have been wounded in action in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - a figure than some think has been underestimated. This mass of people returning from war has oversaturated the military and veterans’ health care systems, leaving many wounded soldiers to receive inadequate care or fall through the cracks altogether.

Currently, 1.8 million veterans lack health insurance due to changes in VA eligibility rules. Almost 400,000 veterans are waiting on their disability claims to be processed, and 83,000 have been waiting for six months or more.

Not only have some service members experienced delayed care from the DOD and the VA systems, but those making the transition from the military to the VA have found themselves lost in the maze of complicated paperwork. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) notes:

The military and the VA have separate health care systems and separate disability benefits systems, each with an exceptionally complicated and confusing bureaucracy.

The problem is so severe that the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, often described as “the investigative arm of Congress,” listed “better health care for service members” among its list of thirteen top priorities for the next administration:

While improvement efforts have started, identifying and treating service members for specific combat-related health conditions, providing timely and accessible disability services, and addressing continuity of care issues are critical challenges facing our nation and will require sustained attention, systematic oversight by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA), and sufficient resources.

Veterans and their families should have every opportunity to move up the social mobility ladder. Yet, with out the critical first step of medical care and rehabilitation, achieving the American Dream becomes much harder.

Tomorrow, on Veterans Day, we as a nation will unite to honor the men and women who have served in America’s armed forces. Unfortunately, many of our soldiers and their families do not get the supports they deserve for so bravely serving our country. At the same time, long deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have put a greater strain on military personnel and their families alike.

This week I will focus on issues facing Veterans and their families, specifically the problems that often put roadblocks in the way of social mobility. Up first: mental health care.

It is estimated that 1.5 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Check out some of these statistics from this report by the IAVA:

• Multiple tours and shorter times between deployments increase the likelihood of combat stress by 50 percent.
• 27 percent of soldiers report that they are currently planning a divorce.
• Two-thirds of veterans report they have family adjustment problems.
• Increased deployments have lead to an increase in child abuse.
• 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were treated at the VA for substance abuse problems.
• The suicide rate for active duty soldiers is at the highest level in 26 years.

While one in three Iraq veterans will face sever psychological injury only about half will seek medical care. One reason is in the military, and society at large, mental illness still caries a stigma. On Saturday the AP reported:

Despite efforts to reduce the stigma of getting treatment, officials say they fear generals and other senior leaders remain unwilling to go for help, much less talk about it, partly because they fear it will hurt chances for promotion.

That reluctance is also worrisome because it sends the wrong signal to younger officers and perpetuates the problem leaders are working to reverse.

But reluctance among service members is not the only reason. The systems in place to catch and treat mental health issues are failing:

Instead of screening returning troops through a face-to-face interview with a mental health professional, the DOD relies on an ineffective system of paperwork to conduct mental health evaluations. There are significant disincentives for troops to fill out the forms accurately, and those who indicate they need care do not consistently get referrals. In addition, access to mental health care is in short supply. According to the Pentagon’s Task Force on Mental Health, the military’s “current complement of mental health professionals is woefully inadequate.” Moreover, 90 percent of military psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers reported no formal training or supervision in the recommended PTSD therapies.

Effective treatment is also scarce for veterans who have left the military….The veterans’ mental health system is simply overwhelmed by the influx; waiting lists now render mental health and substance abuse care “virtually inaccessible” at some clinics, according to the VA’s own experts. The VA has exacerbated the shortage by consistently underestimating the number of new veterans who would need care, and by failing to spend millions earmarked by Congress for mental health treatment.

President-elect Obama has pledged to improve mental health care for service members and their families. The new administration has an ever growing list of challenges to tackle in January, but this is one that mustn’t be overlooked. President Obama should use his bully pulpit to reduce the stigma that still clings to mental illness. He should also work with mental health care providers across the nation and ask them to donate their time and services to helping our wounded troops.

In October alone, the U.S. economy lost 240,000 jobs bringing the unemployment rate up to 6.5 percent - the highest in 14 years. The statistics are disheartening:

• 1.2 million jobs were lost during the past 10 months;
• More than 10 million people are  without jobs and looking for a new one;
• Manufacturing lost 90,000 jobs, construction lost 49,000 jobs, retail lost 38,000 jobs and professional and business service companies shed 45,000 jobs; and
• The number of people receiving unemployment benefits is at a 25 year high.

It’s a good thing Obama is meeting with his economic team today because some economists believe the unemployment rate will be even higher by the time he takes office in January.