Progressively Taxing

Health insurance for the unemployed, more money for non-profits, and “Pay-As-You-Drive Car Insurance” are three “new ideas” panelists proposed at a meeting about the new progressive agenda at the Center for American Progress on May 29.

Lael Brainard, vice president and director of global economy and development at the Brookings Institution, spoke about America’s role in the global market and Americans’ ability to successfully compete abroad.

“Americans are finding that more of them are encountering competition abroad…more than even 10 years ago,” said Brainard. “In the midst of this enormous economic transformation, American workers face a labor market that is completely different from [the one that] their parents [faced].”

Domestically, Brainard argued that workers change their jobs several times throughout their careers, so she is proposing a four-part economic security program.
Her proposal consists of: re-skilling workers, providing health insurance for periods of unemployment, re-skilling communities and transition assistance.

“More workers need health insurance when they lose their jobs,” said Brainard. “The federal government needs to provide healthcare, tax credits [and] subsidize healthcare. It’s a question not of lacking ideas, but of lacking will.”

Brainard said that the unemployed need insurance policies first, then they can be trained for the job market. “It’s crazy that our health insurance policies are tied to jobs,” Brainard said.

Shirley Sagawa, a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress, talked about aiding non-profit organizations. “Non-profits have a very important role to play, particularly low-income people, because about 90% of non-profits have some low-income employees,” said Sagawa.

Sagawa claimed that the number of non-profit organizations in America has doubled over the past 25 years and that non-profits account for five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “You don’t hear [legislators say] we need to do something for people who work at non-profits,” said Sagawa. “Over 80% of non-profits have less than a one-million-dollar per year budget.”

Jason Bordoff, policy director of The Hamilton Project, advocated “pay-as-you-drive insurance” which would reduce congestion, accidents and curb global climate change, he said.

“All this extra driving leads to social harm, increased oil dependence, accidents and carbon emissions,” said Bordoff. “A minority of drivers account for the majority…that’s true whether you live in rural area or urban areas…with a risk adjusted premium, most drivers would be better off.”

Bordoff said that reducing the amount of driving will help improve the environment. “We can start to make real progress with this simple reform to auto insurance…,” said Bordoff. “It will get us down the road to adjusting climate change…and other issues.”

Climate change is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed, and his plan will help this problem, he said. “Dealing with the climate change has a cost for the American people,” said Bordoff. “[This plan] will not solve the climate change problem, but it gets people to reduce driving and helps the climate change [issue].”

Helping the American people become more “proactive” is the first step to solving any major issue, Brainard argued.

“It’s very important that we have a set of overlapping policies that make American workers much more competitive in an increasingly challenging working market,” said Brainard. “Part of the adjustment equation is helping people become more pro-active.”

Melinda Zosh is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.