Part IV
From the History of Social Welfare in America, "Negative Income Tax"
In response to a recommendation of the 1966 White House Task Force, President
Johnson appointed a Commission on Income Maintenance Programs in 1968.
Supported by an adequate and independent staff, including people such as
IBM's Thomas Watson and Rand Corporation's Henry Rowen, the commission
released its report in November 1969.
It recommended the "creation of a universal income supplement program [a
negative income tax] . . . for all members of the population in need."
The report started that unemployment and underemployment
"were basic facts
of American life" and that the economic structure of America "virtually
guaranteed" poverty for millions of Americans. "The simple fact is
that most of the poor remain poor because access to income through work
is currently beyond their reach."
Secretary of Labor Moynihan, appointed by President Humphrey, took special
interest in the Commission and urged Humphrey to support the measures recommended.
In Congress, the NIT was opposed by conservatives, some who opposed the
entire program and others who wished to add on the requirement that those
receiving aid have a job. With large amounts of support from the
White House, the votes needed for the bill to pass were kept together and
became law in 1971.
From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Humphrey, Hubert"
First Term
Domestic Affairs-
Humphrey also faced economic problems. Inflation combined with high unemployment
caused hardship for many people. Working to reduce the high unemployment,
Humphrey signed the Full Employment Act, which created federal public service
jobs when the unemployment rate was over 3%. This, with the Negative
Income Tax Act signed in later that year, provided unemployed families
with a dependable income and helped produce a larger job market.
By 1972, signs of economic recovery were beginning
to show.
From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)"
American civil rights organization founded in 1942 by the American civil
rights leader James Leonard Farmer. The stated purpose of the organization
is to create a society in which “race or creed will be
neither asset nor
handicap.” CORE worked to protect the rights of black Americans and
seek equal job, housing, and education opportunities for them. Farmer,
who
was national director until 1966, advocated a policy of change through
nonviolent direct action, such as the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom, of which CORE was a sponsor. After Farmer's retirement,
he was succeeded first by Floyd B. McKissick and then in 1968 by Roy E.
Innis.
In the 1960-92 Philadelphia boycotts, as a result of the coordinated effort
by almost four hundred back religious leaders and CORE, twenty-four companies,
including Pepsi-Cola, Esso, Gulf Oil and Sun Oil,
agreed to hire blacks
in specific numbers. After the Equal Opportunity Act was passed in
1970, which made it illegal for any company to have hiring quotas based
on race, CORE organized a march on Washington to demand what they called
"affirmative action" by the government.
This marched served only to unite opposition to the new discrimination
supported by CORE. President Humphrey spoke out against the demonstrators,
appealing to American people with the ideal of
equality for all in
America, discrimination or preference to none. Attorney General Powell
had been vigorously prosecuting segregated school districts and now began
to work with the companies that had been forced into accepting racial quotas
to bring a peaceful end to the tense situation. The Supreme Court
later ruled against universities and colleges having racial quotas.
From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)"
Agency of the U.S. Department of Labor established by an act of Congress
in 1970. Its main responsibilities are to provide for occupational safety
by reducing hazards in the workplace and enforcing
mandatory job safety
standards and to implement and improve health programs for workers. OSHA
regulations and standards apply to most private businesses in the U.S.
From the Encyclopedia Americana, "Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)"
By the 1960s, the political atmosphere regarding the status of women in
the United States had changed dramatically. An influential book by
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963), challenged
traditional attitudes
about women, and the civil rights movement had given women a model upon
which they could base their own fight for equal rights. The National
Organization for Women (NOW), formed in 1966, made the ERA central to its
mission. Within a few years the ERA had won the support of both the
Democratic and Republican parties. When the ERA came before Congress
in 1972, it had the support of President Hubert Humphrey. It received
the needed two-thirds majority of both houses, including the
votes of all but eight
senators. The proposed amendment quickly moved to the states in the
second phase of the amendment process.
Opposition to the ERA in the 1970s was similar in some ways to opposition
in the 1920s. Conservative politicians and organizations voiced strong
opposition to the amendment. Phyllis Schlafly, one of the
amendment's most vocal
opponents, founded Stop ERA, a group that worked to defeat the amendment.
Schlafly alleged that the ERA would force women to take on roles normally
reserved for men and that equal rights meant women would give up the “privileges”
of womanhood. She and others also appealed to opponents of abortion,
arguing that the ERA would bar any restrictions on abortion. Despite
this opposition, by 1976 the amendment had been ratified by the required
38 states.
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