This book by Mitt Romney's former domestic policy advisor has gotten a lot of buzz from sources ranging from David Brooks to Ross Douthat to Thomas Edsall. The book lives up to hype. I'm half way through and can't put it down. Pretty impressive for a 150 pages of policy wonk.
Cass confirms the argument made here in previous BPS posts that 1) Despite their protestations to the contrary, neither the Left nor Right care very much about working class Americans and 2) The policies of the last 50 years promulgated by both those groups have certainly not helped and often made things worse. He makes a compelling case that it is the failure of the availability of productive work, work that feeds families, gives dignity, provides social cohesion, and strengthens communities, that lies at the core of our current social implosion. While he begins from a conservative perspective, many of his proposal do not fit into convenient ideological categories. Some solutions, such as an end to the college-for-everyone fantasy with movement toward broader vocational training opportunity feel obvious. Others, such as his ideas for trade and immigration reform, are making me rethink long held but poorly thought out notions of just how current policies affect my countrymen, since the current ones either benefit me or don't affect me at all.
Hope you take a look. Available online at your local library.
Eli
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