drum major institute: 2009 year in review

8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2009 Year in Review

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2009 DIggINg ourselVes out

This January, President Obama stepped into oce to ace a nearly

overwhelming array o challenges: a plummeting economy that threw

millions o Americans out o workand let them unable to nd

new jobs; an unrepentant nancial industry, eager to return to the

era o risky bets and astronomical compensation even as they reliedon taxpayer largesse to avoid a wholesale collapse; an increasingly

unaordable health care system that threatened to bankrupt the

public purse while leaving millions without coverage; the threat o

global climate change, capable o devastating the world i we dont

rapidly and dramatically reduce emissions; crashing home values and

retirement savings; workplace abuses; consumer scams; rights denied

to undocumented immigrants and to homosexual citizens; mediocre

schools; ever more costly colleges; overstued prisons; crumbling

inrastructure

And thats just on the domestic ront.

Backing up the new president: a numerically strong but internally

ractured Democratic majority, still too much under the sway o

powerul industries and cautious ideologies to take the bold actions

necessary to conront the nations problems.

On the other side: a radical minority uninterested in progress or

compromise, ready to stir upand all orthe wildest conspiracies.

(Death panels, anyone?)

It made or a tumultuous year.

We saw progress: the stimulus legislation may well have kept the

nation rom complete economic collapse, the EPA moved to regulate

greenhouse gas emissions, and Congress curtailed credit card abuses.

But it was less than we hoped orand, rankly, less than we needed.

At the same time, lax gun laws, harsh immigration enorcement, and

political insiders cozy relationship with Wall Street threatened to

move the nation backward. The quality o health care reorm, perhaps

the single domestic policy that will most dene 2009 when the historybooks are written, remained uncertain as this report went to press.

In this Year in Review, the Drum Major Institute or Public Policy

oers a rst look back at 2009 through the best and worst o the years

public policy, a mayors eye view o recovery eorts in six American

cities, a recommended reading list or progressives, and the 2009 DMI

Injustice Index.

DMI Year in Review 2009

Introduction


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The Best&Worst

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Student LoansMake the GradeStudent lenders had a pretty sweet deal:

i the students paid o their college debts,

the lenders got the interest. I the students

deaulted, taxpayers picked up the tab. Not

sweet enough? The eds gave banks cash

to make the student loans in the rst place.

The boondoggle amounted to $87 billion

over ten years. And while the money was

considered higher education unding, it

wasnt doing students or their schools a

lick o good. Luckily, the House passed the

Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility

Act in September, terminating the sop to

lenders and redirecting the money toward

educational priorities. Henceorth, theederal government would make student

loans directly. And the redirected unds

would allow low-income students to qualiy

or larger Pell Grants, student borrowers

to pay lower interest rates, and community

colleges to get new resources, and would

even improve unding or early childhood

programs. Introduced by Representative

George Miller, the legislation was

championed by President Obama, but still

had not come to a vote in the Senate as

we went to print. For replacing a wasteul

subsidy with genuine investments in

education, the Student Aid and Fiscal

Responsibility Act gets high marksand

a spot on our best policies o 2009 list.

Wage Watcherson the LookoutIts illegal to pay less than minimum

wage, steal employees tips, or orce your

sta to work o the clockbut whos

checking? Studies have uncovered rampant

workplace violations, yet ederal and state

departments o labor are under-resourced

and overburdened. As a result, employees

get cheated and law-abiding employers

are orced into unair competition with

businesses that underpay their workers.

Enter New York State Wage Watch,

described as a one-o-a-kind grassroots

tool in the ght against illegal labor

practices. The program, launched

in February 2009, empowers local

community groups to educate employees

and businesses about workplace laws. The

groups can also reer serious violations

to the Department o Labor or urther

investigation. The community-based

organizations each work in a particular

geographic zone, reaching out intensively

to workers and businesses that might

not necessarily come orward on their

own. Wage Watch is the brainchild o

New York Labor Commissioner M.

Patricia Smith, who based the program on

Neighborhood Watch programs aimed atghting street crime. As Smith heads o

to a high-ranking position in the ederal

Department o Labor, she may have the

opportunity to take the Wage Watch

national. For innovation in on-the-ground

education and enorcement o workplace

laws, New York Wage Watch earns a place

among the best policies o 2009.

Making PlasticPlay FairOne late payment and your interest rate

tripleswith no advance notice. Add that

to the arbitrary rate hikes, outrageous

hidden ees, deceptive ne print, and

interest charges applied to debts youve

already paid o and youve got enough

credit card rip-os to trip up even the most

conscientious borrower. With Americans

shelling out $15 billion worth o creditcard penalty ees a year, the plastic booby

traps are a disaster or consumers as

well as a cash cow or credit card issuers.

In May, President Obama acted to curb

the hard-charging industry by signing

the Credit Card Accountability,

Responsibility, and Disclosure Act

into law. The new law curtails the most

insidious practices o the credit card


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industryincluding those described

aboveand protects consumers rom

policies that can keep them mired in debt

despite their best eorts to dig themselves

out. But even this consumer victory comes

with some ne print: most provisions o

the bill dont go into eect until February

2010, meaning cardholders remained

vulnerable to unair practices through

months o economic decline when many

turned to credit cards to make ends meet.

Despite this shortcoming, well give credit

where its due and add the Credit CARD

Act to our list o the years best policies.

Halting a

Building MenaceThe New York City skyline is the most

beautiul in the world. But behind the

aesthetic magnicence o the Flatiron,

Chrysler, and GE buildings lurk a menace:

greenhouse gas emissions. Although it

is one o the most energy-ecient cities

per person, New York City is still a major

polluter. A whopping 80 percent o this

greenhouse gas ootprint is caused by

emissions rom buildings. But MayorBloomberg and City Council Speaker

Christine Quinn have seen past the citys

good looks and have devised a plan to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5

percent while creating 19,000 green jobs

and saving $750 million in energy costs.

New Yorks Greener, Greater Buildings

Plan is a six-point strategy to slayor

at least beat backthe greenhouse gas

menace. The plan would update the energy

code to ensure that the most ecienttechnologies, especially lighting systems,

are deployed when buildings are renovated.

Annual reviews o energy consumption

would inorm building owners and

prospective buyers about a structures

energy eciency and a periodic energy

audit would require owners to make energy

improvements in cases where the upgrades

quickly pay or themselves in savings on

energy costs. Training or new green jobs

and nancing or retrots round out the

comprehensive strategy. For demonstrating

how we can save the earth one skyscraper

at a time, the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan

makes our list o the best policies o 2009.

Deceptive FinancialPractices Are ToastWhen a deective brand o toasters is ound

to cause res that can burn down a home,

the Consumer Product Saety Commission

pulls them o the market. But what

happens when deective mortgage loans

cause millions o amilies to be thrown out

o their homes? Even ater obvious signs

that predatory and subprime loans were

precipitating a nationwide oreclosure

crisis, no agency stepped in to protect

homeowners. Without a single government

body charged with saeguarding the publics

interest in airly designed and honestly

marketed nancial products and services,

scams and traps have prolierated in the

market or home mortgages, student loans,

credit cards, and other nancial products.

Banks, mortgage brokers and servicers,and other rms enriched themselves

at the expense o ordinary Americans.

Legislation creating a Consumer

Financial Protection Agency, which

was being debated in Congress as the Year

in Review went to press, would ensure that

nancial institutions no longer take unair

advantage o ordinary consumers. Under

the best legislative proposals, the CFPA

would regulate consumer nancial products

and services to promote transparency,simplicity, airness, and access and to

prevent raud and abuse. Importantly, the

agencys regulations would not undermine

strong state consumer nancial protection

laws that have proven eective in the

past. For protecting the nancial health

o Americans as much as their physical

health, the CFPA earns a place as one o

our best policies o 2009.


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Right to RentWhen it comes to stopping the oreclosure

crisis, Congress hasnt done much good.

More than 1.5 million American amilies

lost their homes in the rst hal o 2009,

and one in every ten U.S. homeowners

is currently behind on their mortgage.Asking banks to voluntarily restructure

loans hasnt worked, and bills that would

require lenders to act have repeatedly

ailed to pass Congress. Isnt there a better

way to keep amilies rom being uprooted

and prevent the upheaval o communities

nationwide? Dean Baker o the Center or

Economic Policy Research has a simple

idea: give oreclosed homeowners

the right to continue living intheir homes as renters or several

years. Not only would households and

neighborhoods become more stable, but

homeowners would gain new leverage

to avoid oreclosure in the rst place.

Since banks generally dont want to be

landlords, they are more likely to modiy

mortgages i they know that struggling

borrowers are entitled to become tenants.

As Baker notes, Right to Rent is simple,

it can take eect immediately, it requiresno taxpayer dollars, and it creates no new

bureaucracy. For its potential to empower

homeowners, penalize reckless lenders,

and stabilize communities battered by

oreclosure, we give Right to Rent a secure

home on our best o 2009 list.

Trading UpTrade has been a cornerstone o our

growth and global development. But we

will not be able to sustain this growth i it

avors the ew, and not the many. Together,

we must orge trade that truly rewards the

work that creates wealth, with meaningul

protections or our people and our planet.

So proclaimed candidate Obama during his

swing through Europe last year. This year,

Obama had the opportunity to make that

vision o robust air trade a reality with

the Trade Reorm, Accountability,

Development and Employment

(TRADE) Act. The bill, sponsored by

Representative Mike Michaud, sets criteria

or reevaluating NAFTA, the WTO, and

other trade pacts in the light o urgent

national concerns about ood and product

saety, environmental protection, labor

standards, national security, and other

issues impacted by trade. For example, the

bill mandates that all ood imported into

the U.S. meet the nations saety standards

and would prohibit trade partners rom

weakening their own environmental laws

to attract international business. The

bill calls or renegotiating existing trade

agreements beore agreeing to new ones

and expands congressional oversight otrade. At press time, the bill had more than

a hundred co-sponsors but never made it

out o committee. A nudge rom President

Obama would have helped! For setting

orth a positive vision o globalization that

avors the many, we ratiy the TRADE

Act as one o the best policies o 2009.

What a Public

Option Can DoThe nal shape o health care reorm

legislation remained uncertain as this

report went to press, but we can say this

much: one o the best health care ideas to

reach a vote in Congress this year was the

proposal or a robust, national public

health insurance option. Senator John

Rockeellers plan or a Consumers Health

Care Act, although soundly voted down

as an amendment to the Senate FinanceCommittees health bill, would have done

the most to hold down health care costs.

Rockeellers proposal would have allowed

individuals and businesses buying coverage

through newly established health insurance

exchanges to choose a public health plan

similar to Medicare. Not only would the

public plan be an aordable option or

consumers, but by using the low rates and


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market power o Medicare, it could push

private insurers to negotiate costs more

aggressively with health care providers,

reducing health care spending across the

board. Reormers have suggested that the

plan should oer slightly higher rates to

primary care physicians to encourage the

vital preventive care these doctors provide.

With polls indicating that as many as 76

percent o Americans support some orm

o government health plan, Congressional

support or a public option should be a no-

brainer. For their potential to keep private

insurance companies honest, proposals or

a public health plan nd a healthy spot on

our Best o 2009 list.

Preemptive StrikeIn 2002 and 2003 state governments in

New Mexico, Georgia, New Jersey, and

elsewhere tried to restrict the predatory

mortgage lending practices that ueled

the national oreclosure crisis. But it was

not to be. Federal agencies swooped in to

block the state laws, insisting that the eds

had the mortgage industry under control.

Were living with the results today. This

case o ederal preemption is no isolated

incident: during the Bush years, it was

standard operating procedure to preempt

strong state and local regulations on

health, saety, the environment, and

consumer protection in avor o weaker

ederal standards. Rogue companies

celebrated as they were shielded rom

state lawsuits that might hold them

accountable or their own harmul

business practices. But Obama stoppedthe party. In a May 20 memorandum to

the heads o executive departments and

agencies, the President acknowledged

states constitutional role in providing

independent saeguards or the public

and called or ederal regulations to

stop preempting state and local laws

without clear legal justication. Whats

more, Obama required agencies to retract

unwarranted cases o preemption by the

Bush Administration. For restoring states

and cities to their role as laboratories o

democracy, Obamas preemption memo

stands as one o 2009s best policies.

This TimeIts Not a HoaxIt is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated

on the American people, Senator

James Inhoe o Oklahoma harangued.

Unortunately, he was not reerring to the

Balloon Boy. Over the last several years,

climate-change denying politicians have

used unscientic statements like Senator

Inhoes to throw sand in the wheels o

serious eorts to halt human-caused

global warming. Congress has ailed

to pass legislation creating a cap-and-

trade system to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions and President Bush ignored his

own Environmental Protection Agencys

nding that global warming poses a threat

to public welare. But everything changed

earlier this year when President Obamas

EPA proposed a rule to regulate

greenhouse gas emissions underthe Clean Air Act. The regulation is

tailored to large power plants, reneries,

and industrial complexes that release

over 25,000 tons o greenhouse gases a

year, accounting or 70 percent o U.S.

emissions rom stationary sources. Under

the regulation, big polluters must install

the best available technology to reduce

emissions. Although legislation regulating

all sources o greenhouse gas emissions

is essential to combating climate change,the EPAs rule will give Congress a reason

to stop letting climate change deniers like

Inhoe block the way towards their own

agreement. For giving Congress a kick in

the pants while halting climate change, the

EPAs proposed rule regulating greenhouse

gases is one o the best public policies

o 2009.


Best oPublicPolicy


8/25

Paving ParadiseIn summer 2009, more than 300,000

Florida housing units stood vacant. Real

estate values statewide had plummeted.

Hundreds o thousands o additional

homes and commercial buildings were in

the pipeline. And the state began to losepopulation. So Governor Charlie Christ

decided that what Florida needed was

yet more real estate development. And he

weakened the states already lax planning

laws to get it. The so-called Community

Renewal Act, signed by the Governor

on June 1, eliminated state oversight o

regional development and let developers

o the hook or unding transportation

improvements when their projectsincrease the strain on inrastructure. A

number o Florida cities and counties

sued, contending that the bill violated the

state constitution and would clog roads,

increase sprawl, and shit development

costs to local governments and taxpayers.

The law also poses environmental threats,

promoting new development in sparsely

populated, environmentally sensitive

areas. Thats especially disappointing

coming rom Crist, now a candidate orU.S. Senate, who had previously taken

positive steps on environmental issues. For

promoting unsustainable overdevelopment

in a state already suering rom a real

estate glut, Floridas misnamed Community

Renewal Act arrives on our list o the worst

policies o 2009.

Govs Play Scroogeto the UnemployedIn the end, they all took the money. Despite

the noisy denunciations o government

spending by a handul o U.S. governors,

all ty states ultimately accepted the

lions share o ederal stimulus unds.

But a ew obstinate governors still reject

a small portion o the unding aimed

squarely at those most hurt by the

recession: cash specically intended to

help people thrown out o work. Thats a

big mistake. Unemployment benets are

among the most eective ways to stimulate

economic growth. By targeting and quickly

delivering money to amilies that have

lost a paycheck, they provide as much as

$1.64 in economic benets or every public

dollar spent. Thats why the stimulus law

provided incentives or states to update

their unemployment systems, ensuring tha

the hundreds o thousands o low-wage

and part-time workers who have lost their

jobs can qualiy or help. But governors like

Louisianas Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry

o Texas wouldnt be swayed. They argued

that improving their systems today might

mean raising taxes on businesses in theuture, so its better to reuse millions

in ederal stimulus unds and leave

many o their states unemployed

citizens without support. When states

reject the money their hardest hit workers

need, we reject their policyand send it to

our list o the years worst.

Feds to Cops:

Nab the NanniesIn these days o strained public budgets,

local police departments have their

hands ull trying to combat real criminal

activity. So why are enorcement agencies

across the country squandering scarce

resources in hot pursuit o drivers with

broken taillights, workers waiting at

day labor sites, and children caught

shing without a license? Worse yet,

why is the ederal Department oHomeland Security encouraging these

misplaced priorities? Its all part o the

Immigration and Customs Enorcements

287(g) program, which makes local

police departments responsible

or enorcing civil immigration

lawswith little training or oversight

and no extra resources. While the program

aims to identiy and remove dangerous


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criminal aliens, in practice it has led to a

food o low-level misdemeanor arrests that

switly turn into deportation proceedings.

Accusations o racial proling and civil

rights violations are growing, while

police chies express concern that 287(g)

undermines community saety by making

immigrants araid to talk to police.

Given the programs ineectiveness,

civil rights and community groups hoped

that President Obama would quickly

discontinue it. Instead, his administration

expanded it, adding 11 new jurisdictions

to the 287(g) program in July. For putting

the apprehension o undocumented

immigrants beore public saety, the

expansion o 287(g) gets caught on our list

o the worst policies o 2009.

TaxBackwardsHows this or a air proposal? First,

dramatically reduce state taxes on the top

5 percent o residents. Then, impose new

taxes on things like ood, rent, child care,

and doctor visits that even your neediest

citizens have to purchase. The result? A$5 billion tax shit rom the wealthy to

low-income and middle-class amilies. In

a nutshell, thats the ludicrously named

Fair Tax that passed the Missouri

House o Representatives in April.

The bill eliminates the states most

progressive revenue-generators

income taxes on individuals and

corporationsand replaces them with

an across-the-board sales tax that

applies to goods and services never beoresubject to taxation. Families earning an

average o $37,000 a year would see an

average tax increase o $2,036, according

to the Institute on Taxation and Economic

Policy, while households raking in more

than a million would enjoy an average

$22,864 tax cut. Thankully, Missouris

deeply unair tax bill died in the State

Senate. But other states might not be so

lucky: Grover Norquist and his right wing

allies continue to push the proposal across

the country. For regressively shiting taxes

rom the rich to the rest, Missouris air

tax is one o 2009s worst.

Shooting Wildlyin Every DirectionGun lovers may have eared a crackdown

on rearms under the Obama

Administration, but 2009 brought exactly

the opposite: a parade o legislative

bulls-eyes or the gun lobby. Feel like

bringing a loaded, concealed weapon

into a national park? Itll be legal in

February due to a provision Congress

inserted into an unrelated bill this May.

Rather haul your gun by train? You may

also be in luck, as the Senate voted to

make support or Amtrak contingent on

the rail systems allowing handguns in

checked baggage. Maybe packing heat in

a drinking establishment is more to your

liking? I you patronize bars in Arizona

or Tennessee, an unprecedented mix o

inebriation and repower becomes possible

this year, due to new state laws. And whati you just dont think those pesky ederal

gun laws should apply to you at all? Then

Montana and Tennessee are the places to

goboth passed legislation insisting that

rearms and ammunition manuactured

and sold within state borders are not

subject to ederal law. (Those rules about

convicted elons not buying assault rifes

were annoying anyway.) For disregarding

the tragedy o gun violence to orce

weapons into still more areas o Americanlie, the nations lax new gun laws hit a

spot on our worst o 2009 list.

Death Panels?!Were all going to die. I were acing a

terminal i llness, the question is whether

we want to receive every possible medical

intervention to prolong our lives or would


WorstoPublicPolicy


10/25

preer to avoid invasive and traumatic

procedures and instead get care aimed

at making us comortable during our

last days. Its an intensely personal

choice, best made with medical guidance.

Unortunately, many Americans

may never have the opportunity to

discuss critical end-o-lie decisions

with their doctors. Thats because

Medicare doesnt reimburse doctors

or these optional consultationsand

it remains an open question whether

it ever willthanks to an outrageous

series o widely publicized lies about

mandatory ederal death panels bent on

euthanizing beloved grandparents. The

act that these alsehoods ever received

media attention is a ailure o Americanjournalism. But the entire political system

reached shameul depths when senior

elected ocials, including Senator Charles

Grassley and ormer Alaska Governor

Sarah Palin, urther spread ears they

knew to be baseless. The distortions

were primarily aimed at eroding support

or health care reorm as a whole, but

terminally ill patients seeking counseling

were the decisive losers when Medicare

reimbursements were yanked rom

preliminary versions o the health care

bill. By limiting options or dying people,

endangering health care reorm, and

degrading our political debate, the death

panel lies and their political consequences

represent the worst o public policy.

Sleeping While

HomelessThe bad economy has hit some

unortunate Americans with particular

orce. First, they are thrown out o work

and out o their homes through no ault

o their own. Now, a growing number o

cities are also throwing them in the back o

a police cruiser. Santa Monica, Caliornia,

a town with a generally liberal reputation,

is a particularly distressing case in point.

Beds are available to just 20 percent o

the towns 915 or so homeless individuals,

so its no surprise that many, including

mentally ill and addicted residents, must

take to the streets or respite. But recently

the Santa Monica Police Department

began to arrest and intimidate the

chronically homeless, particularly those

who are disabled, or sitting or sleeping

in public places. The ACLU calls the

citys actions a deportation programto

eliminate the homeless, not homelessness.

But the crackdown is not limited to Santa

Monica: the ACLU has also led suits in

nearby Laguna Beach and Santa Barbara.

The National Coalition or the Homeless

nds that the number o laws banning

loitering and public camping has risennationwide. Imposing and enorcing harsh

anti-homeless laws at a time o growing

poverty and economic desperation is cruel

and shortsighted. For harassing, rather

than protecting, the most vulnerable, the

criminalization o homelessness in

Santa Monica and nationwide is one o the

worst policies o 2009.

Bankrollero AmericaYou might have thought the shame o

missing Bernie Mados $65 bill ion Ponzi

scheme would be enough to whip ederal

regulators into shape. Unortunately, the

evidence suggests that the Securities and

Exchange Commission, the regulatory

body charged with protecting investors, is

still stuck in its old, sot-on-raud waysat

least when it comes to big banks. Considerthe case o Bank o America. At the end o

2008, B o A paid $50 billion to purchase

ailing investment rm Merrill Lynch,

using billions in ederal unds rom the

Troubled Asset Relie Program to do so.

Shareholders approved the acquisition.

But B o A never inormed them o how

bad Merrills nancial condition was,

amounting to $26.7 billion in total losses


WorstoPublicPolicy


11/25

in 2008. Shareholders also didnt know

about the $5.8 billion in bonuses that had

been authorized to Merrills top employees

despite the rms appalling perormance.

Enter the SEC: although the agency

ound signicant evidence o shareholder

deception by B o A executives and/or

their legal advisors, they settled with Bank

o America or little more than a slap on

the wrist. A judge who later threw out the

settlement called it a breach o justice and

morality. For giving a pass to a powerul

nancial company at the expense o

taxpayers and shareholders, the S.E.C.s

settlement with Bank o America is

one o the worst policies o 2009.

Sacking the TruthAn innocent may have been put to death

in Texas, and Governor Rick Perry

doesnt want to know any more about it.

The case o Cameron Todd Willingham

is tragic. His three daughters were killed

in a 1991 house re and Willingham was

later convicted and sentenced to death

or arson. But subsequent research has

ound that his conviction was based on

a slipshod investigation, junk science,

and discredited theories about how

arson works. Governor Perry neglected

to entertain this expert opinion prior to

signing o on Willinghams execution in

2004. And this year, just two days beore

the Texas Forensic Science Commission

was to hear another report corroborating

the improbability o arson, Perry sacked

its chairman and two other commission

members. His substitute appointment,one o the most hardline prosecutors

in the state, promptly canceled the

hearing, eectively halting any urther

revelation o investigative blunders in

the Willingham investigation. Ater his

ring, the chairman revealed that Perrys

administration had been pressuring the

commission, calling its investigation o

the Willingham case a waste o money.

The commissions review comes much

too late to save Willingham, but there are

signicant lessons to learn rom the case to

help prevent uture wrongul convictions.

For playing ast and loose with the

death penalty and then stiing the

investigation, Governor Perrys ring o

his orensic science commissioner is one o

the worst policies o 2009.

Cash or KidsThe year o cash or clunkers was also

the year o cash or kids. But what at

rst appears to be a straightorward

and appallingstory o kickbacks and

corruption is really a lesson about the

dangers oprivatization schemes thatprioritize proft over accountability

and the public good. A series o

legal actions this year revealed that a

northeastern Pennsylvania judge rst

plotted to turn control o the countys

juvenile detention system over to private

contractors in exchange or more than

$2.6 million, then made certain that the

private detention centers, which were paid

according to the number o detainees held,

were always lled. He routinely denied

juveniles access to lawyers. He imposed

harsh sentences or minor inractions,

rushing juvenile oenders o to

residential centers ater proceedings that

lasted an average o two minutes. Because

the detention acilities were privately run,

there was less accountability. Without the

oversight o a public authority, state audits

were suppressed and suspicious county

ocials had little power. For enablingcrooked judges to put prot beore justice

and to do irrevocable damage to the lives

o thousands o youths, the privatization

o the Luzerne County juvenile detention

system gets locked up on our list o the

worst public policies o 2009.


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12/25

StimCity:

A MayorsEye View oEconomicRecovery

Mayor Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City, OK

Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver, CO

Mayor Dannel Malloy of Stamford, CT

Mayor Douglas Palmer of Trenton, NJ

Mayor Pat McCrory of Charlotte, NC

Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, MN


13/25

StimCity

Mayor Mick Cornetto Oklahoma City,Oklahoma [R]A mistake was made putting so much o

the stimulus money through the states.

What the governors did was address their

inventory needs. Well, their inventory

needs are largely in rural areas where

people do not live. As a result, cities

where the majority o people do live in2009got less than their share o ederal

stimulus money. It also created a larger

bureaucracy. I the money had been

distributed straight to the cities, it would

have more ecient and more helpul and

could have been implemented more quickly.

Its either going to be a governors stimulus

package or a mayors stimulus package and

this is a governors stimulus package.

Mayor Douglas Palmero Trenton,New Jersey [D]Ive been to the White House three times

since February which is three more

than I had the last eight years. They

communicate with us on a regular basis.

There has been an interaction and a

sharing o dialogue. It seems that they

are listening to mayors about how wecan go about getting stimulus money

more directly to cities and how we can

reduce bureaucracy.


About80percentofAmericansliveinurbanareas,andtheeconomichealthand

socialvitalityofoururbancommunitiesarecriticallyimportanttotheprosperityand

qualityoflifeforAmericans.Vibrantcitiesspawninnovation,economicgrowth,and

culturalenrichmentthroughthebusinesses,universities,andcivic,cultural,religious,

andnonprofitinstitutionstheyattract.Forward-lookingpoliciesthatencouragewise

investmentanddevelopmentinoururbanareaswillcreateemploymentandhousing

opportunitiesandmakeourcountrymorecompetitive,prosperous,andstrong.

President Barack Obama, Executive Order on the Establishment

of the White House Ofce of Urban Affairs, February 19, 2009.

Just two days beore President Obama armed the pivotal importance

o Americas cities, he signed the nations $787 billion economic recovery

plan into law. The proximity o those two events was tting. The crippling

recession, together with the governments attempts to blunt its impact, has

dened lie in the nations cities in 2009. So how is recovery really playing ou

in the American metropolis? When decisions are made about inrastructure to

x and services to und, are cities regarded with the critical importance the

President says they deserve? DMI spoke to the ultimate urban experts,

Democratic and Republican mayors o six diverse American cities,

to begin to answer these questions.


14/25

StimCity


Mayor DannelMalloy o Stamord,Connecticut [D]I think mayors were listened to. I just

think we were then ignored and I dont

think we were necessarily ignored bythe President. I think we were ignored

by the Congress. Congress really just

missed a very large opportunity to work

directly with larger local governments.

As a result, I think ar ewer people are

working today with stimulus dollars. Lets

be very clear: the Obama administration

is a vast improvement over the Bush

administration. The real question is, will

the Obama administration have a better

and broader view o cities and the role they

play than the Clinton administration? The

Clinton administration was absolutely the

high mark since Roosevelt o interaction

between a ederal administration and local

governments. The Obama administration

should want to claim that title. Its an open

question whether they will. I think its

been a rough start.

Mayor JohnHickenlooper oDenver, Colorado [D]In the short term, obviously, the

administration needed to get the stimulus

money out, so most o it went through the

states, the transportation money anyway,

which is not as eective or ecient in

helping metropolitan areas. But its still

creating jobs. Its moving our economy inthe right direction. I think uture ederal

investments will make a greater eort to

ocus on what the most immediate needs

are in our metropolitan areas.

Mayor Pat McCroryo Charlotte,North Carolina [R]So much o the money is being directed

through the states, which tend to

shortchange major metropolitan areas.Charlotte got a total o $4 million or

road money. A total o $4 million dollars

out o $300 million or North Carolina!

Were the largest city between Atlanta and

Washington D.C. Were buying hammers

or something.

Mayor R.T. Rybako Minneapolis,Minnesota [D]I do believe that an opportunity was

missed in the stimulus to create more

jobs by putting more o it directly into

cities. But i the bottom line question is

whether the stimulus is having an impact

on Minneapolis, the answer is absolutely.

Anyone who asks whether the stimulus

is having an impact should talk to the

hundred construction workers working on

the Shubert Theater, the ve hundred kids

working in the city this summer, the orty

cops on the street, the scores o businesses

and homes that are going to be able to

save money through energy eciency.

It is easy to stand on the sidelines and

say that one single ederal action has not

reversed the worst economic decline since

the Depression. But the reality is that i

it had not happened, we would be in a

horrendous mess right now.


15/25

Injustice Index 2009

DMIs Quantication of Whats Just Not Right.


16/25DMI Year in Review 2009

9-21-2009

10-06-2009

4-14-2005

3 in 5

46.3 million

3 million

29

76

Date on which Tom DeLay rst appeared to do the Cha Chaon Dancing with the Stars:

Date on which DeLay described himself as insane orstupid and withdrew himself from the show due to a

medical injury:

Date on which then House Majority Leader Tom DeLaybrought legislation to the oor which would make it harder

for insolvent households to declare bankruptcy:

Proportion of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. that can betraced to medical causes:

Number of uninsured Americans in 2008, the most recentyear for which data are available:

Number of Americans who lost employer-sponsored healthcoverage between 2007 and 2008, but remained insured due

to public programs:

Total percentage of Americans relying on governmenthealth coverage in 2008:

Percentage of Americans who supported a federal orstate-based public health insurance option, according to

an October Washington Post poll:

Percentage who wanted a public option even if it meantCongressional health care reform legislation would not

have bipartisan support:

Proportion of Americans who believed proposed healthcare legislation would create government death panels

as of August:

Percentage of Fox News viewers who believed this:

Number of guns a protester brought to a town hallmeeting on health care in Jackson, Michigan:


51

1 in 3

45

3



1/5

2.5 million

Approximate proportion of U.S. voters who believe Obamais ruthlessly advancing a secret agenda to bankrupt

the United States and dramatically expand governmentcontrol according to Democracy Corps:

Additional jobs that would be lost by the end of 2010 if the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had not passed,according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Ofce:

Minimum number of Americans the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act prevented from falling below

the poverty line in 2009:

Total number of Americans unemployed or under-employed in October 2009:

Proportion of voters who say someone intheir household was laid off in 2009:

Ratio of job seekers to job openings:

Total stimulus spending in the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act:

Minimum number of states that have implementedbudgets cuts restricting low-income families eligibility

for health insurance or reducing access to health careservices in spite of the federal stimulus funding:

Minimum number of states cutting aid to K-12 schools andearly education programs:

Amount of federal stimulus money earmarked for educationand public safety in South Carolina that Governor Mark Sanford

attempted to reject before the state legislature, enforced by a

court order, compelled him to accept the funds:

Date on which Sanfords aides announced that the governor,who had mysteriously disappeared the week before, was

hiking the Appalachian trail:

Date on which a record 10.6 million viewers tuned in to theepisode of reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, in which the

prolic parents announced that they were splitting up:


27.4 million

1 in 4

6:1

$787 billion

27

6.2 million

25

$700 million

6-22-2009

6-22-2009



Minimum number of major U.S. corporations, including Appleand PG&E, that split from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due

to its opposition to climate change legislation:

Date on which the Chamber of Commerce

announced it would consider a different approachin addressing climate change:

Estimated support offered by the federal government tobanks and other nancial institutions since 2007:

Year in which Goldman Sachs paid its highest bonuses ever:

Year in which Goldman Sachs is expected to break this record:

Proportion of homes where owners currently owe more ontheir mortgages than their homes are worth:

Total estimated drop in property values nationwide in 2009due to foreclosures on nearby homes:

Date on which Elizabeth M. Jacobson, former Wells Fargo salesmanager, testied about techniques used by the company to

deceive loan applicants into taking out subprime loans with highinterest rates even if they qualied for lower interest prime loans:

Proportion of subprime loans projected to result inforeclosure, even before the housing crash:

Date on which a federal judge refused to dismiss the Cityof Baltimores lawsuit against Wells Fargo for targeting

the citys African American neighborhoods for predatory

subprime mortgages:

Minimum federal funds provided to Wells Fargoto keep it out of bankruptcy:

Date that President Obama launched his foreclosureprevention plan, which pays mortgage servicers to

voluntarily modify loans that homeowners can no longer pay:


7

11-3-2009

$23.7 trillion

2007

2009

Nearly 1 in 5

$502 billion

4-20-2009

1 in 5

7-2-2009

$25 billion

2-18-2009


19/25

11-11-2009

9-30-2009



Percentage of eligible loans that had been voluntarilymodied by banks and servicers, as of September:

Number of Senators who voted not to let judges require

banks to modify mortgages for homeowners who havebeen driven into bankruptcy:

Age Michael Jackson would have been this year:

Number of Senators who voted not to conrm Judge SoniaSotomayor to the Supreme Court:

Minimum number of online campaigns devoted to pressuringCNN to drop Lou Dobbs, who called Sonia Sotomayor a racistand described her nomination as pandering to the Hispanics:

Date that CNN host Lou Dobbs cast doubt on the legitimacyof President Obamas birth certicate, insisting that there

are real questions here that need to be answered:

Percentage of voters in Virginia who believe PresidentObama was not born in the U.S., or are not sure:

Date that Dobbs announced that he was leaving CNN:

Date on which Fox News commentator Glenn Beck suggestedthat the H1N1 swine u vaccine could turn out to be deadly

and advised Id do the exact opposite of what HomelandSecurity says:

Percentage of parents who say they would be unlikelyto give permission for their kids to be vaccinated for the

H1N1 u virus at school:

Minimum number of American children whose deathswere associated with the H1N1 u virus between January

and October 2009:

16

51

51

31

4

7-15-2009

48

38

114


20/25

RecommendedReading 2009

The Death of Why?:The Decline of Questioning

and the Future of Democracy

The Anatomy of a Murder:

Who Killed Americas Economy?

Green Metropolis:What the City Can Teach the

Country about True Sustainability

Broken Laws,Unprotected Workers:

Violations of Employment andLabor Laws in Americas Cities

Young Lives on Hold:The College Dreams of

Undocumented Students

Invisible Hands:The Making of the Conservative

Movement from the New Deal to Reagan

Race, Place, and EnvironmentalJustice after Hurricane Katrina:

Struggles to Reclaim, Rebuild, andRevitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

The Cost Conundrum:What a Texas Town Can

Teach Us about Health Care

One in 31:The Long Reach of

American Corrections

Animal Spirits:How Human Psychology

Drives the Economy, and Why ItMatters for Global Capitalism


21/25

ReadThis

The Death o Why?:th Dcin f Qininnd h F f DmccyBk by and Bi schin

Democracy needs citizens who can

inquire, argues DMI Executive Director

Andrea Batista Schlesinger. Yet rom

canned political debates that provide little

opportunity or genuine dialogue to bank-

driven nancial literacy courses that teach

young people to navigate the nancial

marketplacebut not to consider why

its structured the way it isour culture

is increasingly addicted to easy answers.

Rather than peddling a simple solution,

this incisive book takes to the road to

explore institutions that continue to osterinquiry, rom the Hampton, Virginia

Youth Commission to New York Citys

School or Democracy and Leadership. In a

world lled with glib answers The Death

o Why inspires us to ask questions with

the power to disrupt the status quo.

The Anatomyo a Murder:Wh Kid amicecnmy?aic by Jph e. siiz,pbihd in Ciic rviw

To x the economic crisis, and prevent the

next one, we need a clear understanding

o the causes o our predicament: the

whodunit in our economic murder

mystery. In this lucid and readable essay,

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph

Stiglitz careully makes the case against theguilty parties (banks were supposed to be

experts in risk management. They not only

didnt manage risk; they created it.) and

their accomplices including rating agencies,

mortgage brokers, sluggish regulators,

deregulating politicians, and economists

who should have known better. The

surprise behind-the-scenes culprit? The

American political systems dependence

on campaign contributions, which Stiglitz

argues distorted economic policymaking

and enorcement. He is pessimistic about

the potential or genuine reorm.

Green Metropolis:Wh h Ciy Cn tchh Cny b tsinbiiyBk by Dvid own

Which is better or the environment: living

close to nature in the unspoiled rural

hinterland or making your home in the

heart o the nations largest and busiest

city? In his hotly debated book, David

Owen makes a vigorous case or the latter.

New Yorkers, individually, drive, pollute,consume, and throw away much less than

do the average residents o the surrounding

suburbs, exurbs, small towns, and arms,

because the tightly circumscribed space

in which they live creates eciencies

and reduces the possibilities or reckless

consumption, he argues. Taking aim at

such sacred cows as hybrid cars, green

building standards, and the movement

toward locally-produced oods, Owen

raises provocative questions about what it

will really take to save our planet.

Broken Laws,Unprotected Workers:Viin f empymn ndlb lw in amic Ciirp by ann Bnhd . fm huniviy f Iini Chic, h univiyf Cifni l an, nd h Ninempymn lw Pjc

One in our low-wage workers made less

than minimum wage last week. When they

worked late, three quarters didnt get paid

overtime. And when they got hurt on the

job, most aced illegal employer reactions

aimed at stopping them rom ling or

workers compensation. These violations

o the nations most undamental

workplace protections occurred not



22/25

ReadThis

in some sparsely-populated backwater

but in the nations three largest cities,

according to this rigorous, in-depth survey

o thousands o working Americans.

This study is the rst to systematically

document the prevalence o workplace

violations in major U.S. cities. Researchers

conclude the situation has likely become

even worse since the research was

conducted in 2008.

Young Lives on Hold:th C Dm fundcmnd sdnrp by rb g. gnzz pbihdby h C Bd

Every year, 65,000 students who havegrown up in the U.S. graduate rom high

school with little opportunity to participate

in, or contribute to, American society. These

young people are undocumented immigrants

who moved to the U.S. as children, and

although they may not even remember

the countries where they were born, they

ace numerous obstacles to education and

employment in the land where they live.

This report rom the College Board brings

together statistics, studies and personal

stories to make the case or the DREAM

Act, which would oer legal status and a

brighter uture to immigrants who arrived

as children. Their well-being, Gonzalez

argues persuasively, is closely linked to the

interests o the nation as a whole.

Invisible Hands:th Mkin f hCnviv Mvmn fmh Nw D rnBk by Kim Phiip-Fin

The conventional wisdom traces the rise

o the contemporary American right to the

cultural backlash o the 1960s. But thats

only part o the story. With this accessible

and engaging book, Phillips-Fein lls in

the blanks, recounting the history o the

conservative businessmen who initially

ought against the New Deal and then

worked over more than a generation to

roll it back. Business leaders dreamed or

decades o using the combined nancial

and political strength o business to reshape

American politics, dismantling the welare

state, weakening government regulation,

cutting taxes, and destroying labor

unions. Among the keys to their success?

Establishing right-wing think tanks like

the Heritage Foundation and American

Enterprise Institute, which provided the

intellectual inrastructure to turn radical

right-wing rhetoric into political reality.

Race, Place, andEnvironmentalJustice aterHurricane Katrina:s rcim,rbid, nd rviizNw on nd h gfBk did by rb D. Bdnd Bvy Wih

The idea that race and place can impact

how you live has long been a central

insight o the environmental justice

movement, and theres no more vivid

illustration than Hurricane Katrinas

disproportionate devastation o

communities o color. Co-edited by Robert

Bullard, the ather o environmental

justice, this powerul collection o essays

explores the eects o race and class on

New Orleans beore the storm and in its

atermath, delving into issues as varied aspublic health disparities, unequal access

to transportation, and survivors diering

abilities to nd temporary housing or

obtain loans to rebuild small businesses.

The book also oers suggestions or moving

orward with the equitable and sustainable

growth that is still urgently needed more

than our years ater the storm.



23/25

ReadThis

The Cost Conundrum:Wh tx twn Cntch u b Hh Caic by a gwnd pbihdin h Nw Yk

No wonder this article became obligatory

reading in the White House this summer:it inorms the nations continuing eorts

to cut health care costs with a compelling

diagnosis o the problem and prescribes a

cure. McAllen, TX has some o the most

expensive health care in the country,

twice as costly as a nearby county with

similar population, demographics, income,

liestyles, and health outcomes. The

reason? Many doctors in McAllen, and

increasingly throughout the U.S., see

their practice primarily as a revenue

stream and so practice medicine in

ways that maximize their own income.

They over-utilize care, avoring the most

expensive (and oten invasive) treatments.

The result is more costly health care

without better health. The good news:

other American cities deliver better care

or less by changing physician incentives.

One in 31:th ln rch famicn Ccinrp fm h Pw Cn n h s

As states and cities across the nation

grapple with scal crises, ast-growing

corrections budgets are a ready target

or cuts. But simply slashing services to

inmates would be short-sighted: this report

points out that intelligent probation and

parole policies can improve public saety

at a raction o the cost o incarceration.

By redirecting a portion o the dollars

currently spent on imprisoning low-risk

inmates, we could signicantly increase

the intensity and quality o supervision

and services directed at the same type

o oenders in the community. Prison

costs would go down, while innovations

in treatment and re-entry programs would

reduce recidivism. Both public saety and

public budgets would reap the benets.

Animal Spirits:Hw Hmn Pychy

Div h ecnmy, ndWhy I M f gbCpiimBk by g a. akf nd rb J. shi

Human beings arent always completely

rational. Its an obvious statement unless

you happen to be a macroeconomist. In

that case, your work probably relies on

models that assume individuals always

act with perect rationality in their own

economic sel-interest. The result o thisindividual activity is supposed to be a

sel-regulating market that requires no

government intererence. Unortunately,

reality requently doesnt cooperate:

bubbles and crashes leave ree market

economists scratching their heads while

the ideology built on their assumptions

rolls on heedlessly. In this book, prominent

mainstream economists attempt to bring

the insights o behavioral economics

(i.e. how people actually behave in the

marketplace) to macroeconomic theory.

They undermine a large chunk

o conservative ree market ideology

in the process.



24/25

staFF

William B. Wachtel

Founder

Deborah Sagner

Board Chair

Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr.

Vice Chairman

Morris PearlTreasurer

Stuart Appelbaum

John Catsimatidis

Bruce Charash

Cecilia Clarke

Sandra Cuneo

Jennifer Cunningham

Rosanna M. Durruthy

Matthew Goldstein

Ken Grossinger

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Martin Luther King, III

Tom Watson

Randi Weingarten

Andrew Young, III

BoarD oF DIreCtors

Andrea Batista

Schlesinger Executive Director

RESEARCH

Amy M. Traub

Director o Research

John Petro

Policy Analyst,Urban Aairs

Harry Moroz

Research Associate

Afton Branche

Research Assistant

Cristina Jimenez

Immigration Policy

Consultant

COMMUNICATIONS

Dan Morris

Director o Communications

Karin Dryhurst

Communications Assistant

STRATEGIC RELATIONS

Tsedey Betru

Director o DMI Scholars

OPERATIONS

Lauren Su

Chie Operations Ofcer

Travis Craw

Intern

WHo Is tHeDruM MaJor INstItuteFor PuBlIC PolICY?

The Drum Major Institute or Public Policy (DMI) is a nonpartisan, nonprot think tank ounded during the

civil rights movement to put the best arguments and most eective tools into the hands o those advocating onthe rontlines or progressive economic and social change. From the middle-class squeeze to comprehensive

immigration reorm to the economic potential o Americas cities, DMIs research, analysis, media, and

communications eorts shape how major policy debates are waged and won by elected ocials, advocates,

grassroots leaders, and concerned citizens at the local, state, and ederal level. Always ocused on winning the

long-term battle o ideas, DMI trains talented young people rom underrepresented communities to become

the next generation o leaders who can advance progressive public policy. The organization changes the oten

insular conversation about policymaking by empowering diverse voices to drive it in new directions.

F m infmin, p vii www.dmmjini.

DMIs 2009 Year in Review was written by Amy Traub and Harry Moroz

Design by Randi Hazan / Hazan & Company

Photos: Images are rom istock.com. The credits listed are usernames.

Pages 26: Liliboas / Pages 2, 610: princessdla / Pages 1113: deliormanli / Page 14: JimSchemel /

Pages: 1518: Davidcalicchio / Pages 1922: Feverpitched


25/25

From Disaster to Diversity: Whats Next For NeW york Citys eCoNomy

December 2009 / This wide-ranging collection o essays is the result o an intellectual organizing eort,

convening a diverse group o people whose ideas and arguments, proposals and prescriptions, are brought

together here or the rst time. All are equally concerned about how to make New York City stronger

and healthier than ever. A blueprint or post-recession governance, the book contains ambitious but

workable plans or advancing policies to strengthen vital areas and sectors, assets and drivers, o the

local economy. Big themes include: how supporting anchor industries and new businesses may not bemutual ly exclusive; how ensuring responsible development, growth, and stimulus is cost-eective; how

promoting better education practices expands economic opportunity; how investing in inrastructure

and the built environment yields lasting returns; and how strengthening vulnerable communities helps

improve lie or all.

PriNCiPles For aN immigratioN PoliCy to streNgtheN

aND exPaND the ameriCaN miDDle Class: 2009 eDitioN

September 2009 / Building on DMIs earlier immigration work, this report argues that immigration policy

must be driven by the needs o American workers striving to stay afoat through the economic crisis. We nd

that the current and aspiring American middle class relies on the economic contributions o immigrants, but

that the exploitation o undocumented immigrant workers threatens to undermine us all. We conclude that

Congress must reorm immigration policy to maximize immigrants economic contributions and strengthen

their workplace rights. An earned legalization program or undocumented immigrants is a critical part o

this reorm. The report includes talking points and act sheets or use by advocates.

the Next eCoNomiC imPerative: UNDoCUmeNteD immigraNts iN the 2010 CeNsUs

July 2009 / The United States cannot aord to exclude undocumented immigrants rom the 2010 Census.

Failing to gather accurate inormation about an estimated 12 million undocumented residents will make it too

dicult or the country to recover rom the worst recession in decades. This is the rst major policy research

paper to analyze the latest data and evidence showing how all Americans will benet rom the inclusion o

undocumented immigrants in the 2010 Census. It explains why a demographic prole o this population must

become the next economic imperative and reutes common misconceptions about the census.

No more Delay: ProveN PoliCy solUtioN For NeW york City

July 2009 / Prior to New York City elections in the Fall o 2009 it is important to examine the citys

record on critical issues that aect all New York City residents. This report ocuses on six pressing

areas o policy: economic opportunity, housing aordability, criminal justice, workplace standards,

environmental sustainability, and health care. In each area, it shows how New York City has ailed

to address signicant challenges acing New Yorkers, oers a proven solution rom another city, and

explains why that policy prescription is appropriate or New York.

No eCoNomiC reCovery WithoUt Cities: the UrgeNCy oF a NeW FeDeral UrbaN PoliCy

June 2009 / President Obamas newly created White House Oce o Urban Aairs presents a new

opportunity or ederal urban policy. The urban policies o previous administrations have viewed cities as

problems or have held that the ederal government could do best or cities by doing least. In contrast, theOce o Urban Aairs provides an opportunity to maximize the economic potential o cities through well-

coordinated, productive relationships with the ederal government. These relationships are particularly

important to the success o the economic stimulus package and to economic recovery. DMI oers a number

o policy principles to guide the Oces eorts to develop a strategy or metropolitan America.

miDDleClass.org 2008 CoNgressioNal sCoreCarD

March 2009 / Who stood up or the middle class? We examine the good and bad decisions Congress made in

2008rom the February stimulus bil l to the Senate libusters that killed legislation to address the home

mortgage crisis and to assist the struggling auto industry. We look at how the middle class gained rom the

also FroM DruM MaJor INstItute

drum major institute: 2009 year in review

Documents