[War] US: Home Affairs

[John Penta]

"Home Affairs"
1 Jan 2014
Pres. John Williams
USA
=================
<Rumson, New Jersey>

   In his more normal home on the banks of the Navesink River in New Jersey,
President Williams mused.

   In the last year, he'd become President of the United States...And, on
September 8, 2013, at 10:32 AM, a dad. Weighing in at 6 lbs, 9 oz at birth,
with a length of 21.5 inches, was Luke Daniel Williams, the newest member of
the Williams family.

   Labor had been hard on Kay, especially given how big their little one was
- for all that, the baby weight had come off relatively quick, and she was
just about as physically active as she was before after only 2 months.

   That said, neither mom nor dad were rested. Luke was a quiet baby, except
when he wanted to be loud - then, he was earsplittingly loud.

   And as it was, he was sleeping only 3-4 hours at a time.

   At present, he was laying on a blanket on the floor, making noises at
Akela, who was looking at him as if to say "What are you bothering me for,
kid?"

   Meanwhile, dad was reading; Kay was out taking a day for herself, and the
Secret Service detail was "manned low", pared to a skeleton staff while he
was in New Jersey; not much security was needed. His Football Officer was
happily watching TV, not really needed given the general calm of the world
situation.

   At that point, the doorbell rang. Swooping down with a "wooosh", John
picked up his son, who squealed happily, and walked to the door, holding
Luke in one arm as he opened the door.

   "Mrs. Coleman, you're early," he greeted, as Luke made happy noises at
the new person.

   As they shook hands, the new President of the National Urban League
nodded, before the President took her coat and hung it up on a coat rack
near the door. "I thought the snow would take longer to be cleared on the
Parkway, so I started out early. Thank you for meeting with me, Mr.
President; I honestly thought you would hand it off to an aide or a Cabinet
secretary." Then, as Luke reached out to her, she smiled. "And this is cutie
I've heard all about?"

   Williams smiled. "Yup. Hey Luke, can you say 'hello' to Ms. Coleman?" He
asked his son, who just made a noise.

   "Close enough," Coleman laughed, as John led the woman back to the living
room.

   "I got the files you sent over - thanks; Have a seat wherever you'd like,
I'm just going to make sure the little guy's comfy."

   With that, Luke went on the floor, happily squeezing a squeaky penguin
that had been named Jose by the crews of Marine One - a name that had stuck.
Soon enough, though, he was playing with an activity set he'd gotten for
Christmas, happily pushing and pulling and bonking things as the grownups
watched for a bit.

   "I remember when my kids were that young. Now they're teenagers and I
miss it," Coleman noted. "How's being a dad?"

   "Hard...No, terrifying, sometimes. Fun, I wouldn't trade it for
anything...But I'm still amazed sometimes that me, of all people, has this
little person who depends on me now," Williams replied.

   "By all accounts, you're doing a great job. Besides, he doesn't know if
you make mistakes; he's healthy, he's happy, he's safe, and he has a mom and
dad who love him. That's what's important."

   A nod from the President, as Gizmo walked over to Luke, sniffed the toys,
then licked the baby, who let loose happy squeals and giggles.

  "Gizmo, no licking Luke! Eww, doggy drool." Dad scolded with a smile, but
not bothering to wipe the drool off the baby, as the visitor laughed.

   "And as these two try and mug for attention, what'd you think of what I
sent over?" Coleman asked.

   "Not bad. Not what I have in mind, but not bad."

   "That's the thing: If you have a policy on the poor, nobody's heard it."

   "My fault; I've been so focused on foreign affairs and getting ready for
the little guy that a lot of those programs didn't even make the radar
screen. If I may, let me lay out my thoughts holistically.

   "Instinctively, my reflex is not to cut back on the role of government,
but to avoid expanding it. I'm not *adverse* to government intervention
where I see a need, but my first preference is for the private sector,
whether that be for-profit companies, volunteer organizations, or religious
communities, to take the lead. While I understand why everybody wants for
the government to get involved, I'm not sure it's the best idea: My fear is
that what we've had since the 1960s has gotten people to think the
government will cure all ills, right all wrongs, Not a smart idea, because
government -can't- do that. Whether it should or shouldn't doesn't matter:
It *can't*.

   "Now, let's look at specific programs.

   "Most of the social programs you wrote about have one problem: There's no
coordination. We throw benefits at people, state and federal, and don't look
at everything as a package. We never do ask 'Okay, what's your plan?' of
recipients."

   Coleman looked skeptical. "So government's going to go paternal, tell the
poor what to do?"

  "Not at all. Instead, when someone gets *on* to the benefits rolls, they
should be meeting with -one- case manager for all benefits. When the
disabled receive benefits, we have them go through an Individual Education
Plan when they're kids, or an Individualized Plan for Employment when
they're adults. We make them, or their parents or other caregivers, say that
they intend to achieve X in the next year, and Y, Z, W, and A are what we
can do to help them do B, C, D, and E, which will at least give them
objectives. And we hold everybody to it. Why not do that here?

   "Let's face it: These people are choosing to take government benefits;
that hardly means government should tell them how to live their life, but it
does mean that they shouldn't expect that the government will be
disinterested in how they turn out."

   "So what do you intend?" Coleman asked.

   "Okay. Let's walk this through from the start. Someone comes in to
receive benefits. They meet with the usual caseworker...And this time,
besides the usual interview, they also take tests. If they don't have
reading or math skills, they're signed up for that. If they don't speak
English, they're signed up for language classes. The government pays. Their
continued receipt of benefits is dependent on adequate attendance and
progress - we'll provide child care if need be. They'll be paid a stipend to
attend classes in lieu of work, if need be: But, and this is key to getting
it past conservatives, this is all dependent on good behavior. If they're on
drugs, they stop. If they have a drinking problem, they go into AA. If we
need to test to make sure they're clean, we will.

   "The idea behind all these tests is to work out the jobs their interests
and skills suit them for. Essentially, we change the nature of government
benefits provision in the US for the able-bodied of working age: The idea
isn't to give you money, it's to put you in a concentrated, focused
skills-training program. By the end of your participation, you'll have a GED
if you didn't complete High School. If you did, by the time we're done,
you'll be ready to take college classes, mostly online - it'd be easy enough
to use Open CourseWare and associated textbooks for materials; the
government will pay for tuition, books, and fees for the *first two years*,
subject to the same requirements as every other college-payment program.

    "Are we ever going to solve poverty completely? No. That's not likely to
ever be possible in a free market system. But there are things you can do."

   At that point, the conversation got detailed.

   Meanwhile, on the floor, Luke noticed something. *Oooh, if I push this
button, I get a funny noise!*
---
Actions:
1. Meet with the National Urban League and begin planning a reconfiguration
of how the US does public benefit programs:

A. Various federal programs get shifted administratively to be placed where
they would better fit inside the federal government - most prominently, food
stamps and other nutrition programs move from USDA to HHS.
B. Instead of meeting with a horde of separate people, benefit recipients
meet with *one* case manager who screens them for *all* state and federal
programs they may be qualified for - Screening in this case would include
skills and other tests.
C. To improve the quality of the workforce, those scoring at certain levels
on the aforementioned tests would be assigned to reading, math,
English-language, etc. programs as needed, as well as drug or alcohol
programs if applicable. Satisfactory attendance and progress in the
programs, as well as mandatory meetings with caseworkers on a regular basis,
would be required for the receipt of benefits - on the other hand, the
government will provide stipends where needed, provide child care to enable
attendance, etc. At the end of their training, the idea is that if they
don't have a GED, they should be able to get it - if they do have one, then
they should be at least ready for community college courses.
D. PR message: The government doesn't want to tell people how to live their
lives, but receiving government benefits should come with an explicit
promise to in fact work towards standing on your own two feet eventually.
2. HHS, Labor Dept, Ed Dept to take lead on program implementation.
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