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Page 6 April 13, 2016 O PINION Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Raising Taxes Could Actually be a Good Deal Investing in our prosperity by i saiah J. p oole This time of year, a whole lot of Ameri- cans are feeling taxed enough already. But the astonishing momentum of Bernie Sanders’s presidential candidacy reveals something else: Millions of tax- payers are willing to entertain the idea that some of us aren’t taxed enough, and that it’s hurting the rest of us. Sanders has propelled his race against Hillary Clinton on a platform that would ramp up government investment — in in- frastructure, education, health care, research, and social ser- vices — while boosting taxes on the wealthiest Americans and big business to cover the cost. Clinton’s own vision is less ambitious, but it’s also a far cry from “the era of big government is over” days of her husband’s ad- ministration. The old conservative ep- ithet against “tax-and-spend liberals” hasn’t complete- ly lost its sting, says Jacob Hacker, a political science professor at Yale Universi- ty who pushed the idea of a public option for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act debate. But “we are moving to- ward the point where we can have an active discussion” about why “you need an activist government to secure prosperity.” Hacker’s latest book, with Paul Pierson of the University of Cal- ifornia at Berkeley, is American Amnesia: How the War on Gov- ernment Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper. Hacker and Pierson argue that it was “the strong thumb” of a largely progressive-oriented government, in tandem with “the nimble fingers of the market,” that created the broad prosperi- ty of the post-World War II era. Conservative ideologues and cor- porate leaders then severed that partnership. Anti-government activism replaced the virtuous cycle of shared prosperity that existed into the 1970s with a new cy- cle that’s reached its apogee in today’s radical Republican-run Congress: Make government un- workable. Attack government as unworkable. Win over angry vot- ers. Repeat. But in today’s mad politics, growing numbers of voters seem to have gotten wise to the routine and how it’s been rigged against them. Some are gravitating to- ward Donald Trump, as Hacker puts it, out of “the need to put a strong man who you know is not with the program in Washington in charge.” Sanders has the opposite vi- sion. He’s looking to spark a peo- ple-powered reordering of what government can do, with the biggest wealth-holders paying the share of taxes that they did when America’s thriving middle class and thriving corporate sec- tor were, together, the envy of the world. That vision is embodied in the People’s Budget, a document pro- duced by the Congressional Pro- gressive Caucus as an alternative to the House Republican budget. It’s based on the premise that America can break out of its slow-growth economic malaise through a $1 trillion infrastruc- ture spending plan that would create more than 3 million jobs, increased spending on green en- ergy research and development, and universal access to qual- ity education from preschool through college. “There are two messages that come out of the progressive bud- get,” Hacker said. One is that “we can actually increase investment if we don’t cut taxes further on the wealthy.” The other is that “if we got tougher with the modern robber barons in the health care and finance and energy indus- tries, we could actually achieve substantial savings without cut- ting necessary spending.” Unfortunately, the People’s Budget won’t get close to a ma- jority vote in Congress — and that’s if it gets a vote at all in the dysfunctional Republican House. Yet together with the debate provoked by the Sanders cam- paign, Hacker says, it shows that now “we have a little bit more of an opening for the kind of con- versation we should’ve had 20 or 30 years ago, when we were trashing government and aban- doning all of these long-term in- vestments that are essential to our prosperity.” Isaiah J. Poole is the online communications director at Cam- paign for America’s Future. Our- Future.org. Distributed by Other- Words.org. Contributions by Women Past and Present Her place is simply where she makes it M arC h. M orial There is no arena in American life, or beyond the borders of this country, where a woman’s presence can neither be noted nor celebrated. Women have played—and con- tinue to play—a major role in our nation’s culture, politics and econ- omy. The traditionally held belief of a “woman’s place” has long creat- ed obstacles for women who have ventured into the business arena. It was a notion that dictated that a woman’s natural place was in the home, and when women worked outside of the home, it largely dic- tated what kind of work was appro- priate for her. From the late 1800s and its initial boom of female work- ers and entrepreneurs in Ameri- ca, to Maria Contreras-Sweet, the founder of ProAmerica Bank and current head of the Small Busi- ness Association, and Oprah Win- frey’s media empire, we know that a woman’s place is quite simply where she makes it. My own respect for strong, ac- complished women was instilled by my mother, a highly-respected by educator and civil rights activist who recently published a memoir, “Witness to Change,” about her own remarkable life. Despite issues of gender parity and gender equity that continue to plague our boardrooms, conference rooms and banks, women have long contributed to the econom- ic vitality of our country. Yesterday’s entrepreneur laid the groundwork for today’s businesswoman, who continues to defy odds, Women own nearly 10 million of the businesses in America— making up 36 percent of the na- tion’s businesses. These business- es generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual revenue and employ 8 million people. Women are start- ing businesses at record rates, ex- ceeding the national average, and there has been remarkable spike in small business ownership by women of color. In 2002, there were fewer than one million businesses owned by women of color, representing 14 nesses and their businesses can be found in any conceivable industry. There are many factors that can be attributed to this historic growth. The gender pay gap, and the glass ceiling above the lad- der of success that is littered with cracks but has yet to be shattered, surely plays a motivating role for many women who have decided to invest in themselves and their talent. The Great Recession and the slow start, especially for com- munities of color to recover from the immense loss of capital and There are many factors that can be attributed to this historic growth. The gender pay gap, and the glass ceiling above the ladder of success that is littered with cracks but has yet to be shattered, surely plays a motivating role for many women who have decided to invest in themselves and their talent. break glass ceilings and produce much-needed jobs and revenue. This is especially true in the case of women of color, who are the fastest growing group of entrepre- neurs in the United States. percent of women-owned firms. As of 2012, there are nearly 3.8 million firms owned by women of color, comprising 38 percent of women-owned businesses. Today, women of color own 4 in 10 busi- employment, is likely another mo- tivating factor. The ever-widening gap between the haves and the have nots has also played a part in women of color tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit. The growth in businesses owned by women of color belies the ugly reality that African Amer- ican and Latina business owners struggle to fund their startups. Women tend to start their busi- nesses with half as much money as men, they are more likely to use their personal savings, and are less likely to access bank loans, funding and venture capital. To foster the growth and long-term survivability of businesses owned by people of color, the National Urban League has created Entre- preneurship Centers that provide management counseling, mento- ring and training services geared toward the development of man- agement skills that enable minori- ty entrepreneurs to obtain financ- ing that support job creation and preservation. Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in our economy and the Na- tional Urban League will contin- ue to play a vital role in shoring up the efforts and success of all businesses that create the jobs that save our cities. The small busi- nesses owned by women of color are helping to bring jobs to strug- gling neighborhoods, creating new economic pathways in under- served communities and deserve their fair share of recognition— every month of the year. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League.