is there an non-fiction author or book you'd like to see featured? send us an e-mail at booktv@c-span.org. or tweet us at twitter.com/booktv. peter talks about why our economy produces great wealth and great poverty at the same time. it offers suggestions on how it improve the condition of the tens of millions of americans currently living below the poverty line. it's about 50 minutes. >> thank you so much, deb dray. i'm delighted to be here and thanks to busboys and poets for allowing me to be here to talk with you. of course, thanks to all of you for coming. i see a lot of friends, some of my students are here. they already got the grades. no -- [laughter] nobody was threatened.

this is -- we could spend a lot of time talking about how bad things are now, but we all know. it's a terrible time for a lot of reasons, and especially for low and lower income people in our country. both strictly and because of what has happened to the politics, that are making matters a lot worse. both for the poor and the near poor. and as you know, it's happening at the federal level, it's happening because so many states are deep in fiscal trouble and having to cut sometimes more eagerly than others but having to cut. and we're seeing paul ryan and his friends and colleagues in the house proposing the budget that is truly astonishing and absolutely horrible. both in terms of what it does to

people at lower end and also the fact that it contains an incredible amount of further tax cutting at the top robin hood would be turning over in his grave, i think. [laughter] but the purpose of my book is to put things in a larger context. to talk a little bit, when you have a chance to read the book about why we are where we are on poverty and to look ahead a little bit about what we need to do. of course, the harder question for all of us is how we can create a politics where these issues and many others take a different turn, a better turn in our country. ronald reagan said that we fought a war on poverty and poverty won. well known, everybody has heard that. the first thing i want to say,

of course, i stay in the book is that ronald reagan was wrong. [laughter] about many things. [laughter] the fact is, and we need to celebrate this, that the public policies that we have from social security through a long list of -- earned income tax credit and food stamps are keeping 40 million people out of poverty. instead of the 46 million people we have in poverty, which is certainly bad enough and then some, we would be at 84 million without the all of those policies that we have so. we have been successful in our publics policy. there's a paradox here that or an apparent paradox, what i said is absolutely true. but if we look at the trends in the percentage of people who are

poor in this country, in 1973, we had the lowest percentage that we've had since we started counting in the early '60s. that was 11.1 percent. and when bill clinton left office after ups and downs, not downings below 11.1. going up further we ended the century at 11.3%. since that time, of course, we had 15 million more people join the ranks of the poor in the country. i might say par threatically, i'm sure almost everybody knows this, the poverty line, so we have it in mind is $19,000 now. $23,000 for a family of four. not a high income to have and dollar above that and you're not poor anymore. so up to $46 -- 46 million even

in tbown 2000 the same poverty rate we had in 1973, the 40 million people who are helped would otherwise be in poverty. how do those things fit together? that's the heart of what the book is about. so first of all, in team -- terms of who those 46 million people are in a couple of words. and that is that most of them have work. most of them are working, a lot of them can't find full-time work. a lot of them in low-wage jobs. i'm going talk about that at greater length. it's not some different kind of person who is poor from all of us. most of the people who are ever poor in the country are below the poverty line for a relative short time. there are some people who are

persistently poor and generationally poor. we have to end the idea that there's somebody who is different from the rest of us. basic, basic point about why we have so many low-income people is because we have surprise, surprise so much low wage work. , you know, again you hear over and over again politicians tell you, well, it's somebody's individual fault. they just try harder, if they didn't get on welfare all this stuff, the fact is, and we know all of this, that the manufacturing jobs went away. good paying jobs went away. long time ago and were replaced. thankfully they were replaced by jobs that don't pay enough to live on. but i'm not sure if i sort of quiz people here, the people who

are well informed and read the papers. watch the news and all of that, whether people are aware of the magnitude of this. the median wage in in country half the jobs in country pay less than $34,000. that's pretty low. a quarter of the jobs in the country pay less than the poverty line for a tbeam -- family of four. no wonder so many people are having so much trouble. and if somebody could -- if there two possible wage earners in a household going back then, and ever since then. okay, you can double that and do fairly well. but we have also had a great increase in the number of single moms -- the number of people who are coping with this economy

with only one wage earner. and so what is happened is we have gone from having the elderly be the lowest income group in our country, i mean, yes, lowest income group in our country to having index social security. having enact the supplement security income, ssi, the effects of medicare and medicaid. they are now the least poor group in the country. and the group, i'm not sprigs you, that is the poorest are children. why? because children have parents and this is largely a story about women. women and children and they are the poorest group. now that job, that $34 ,000 job pays almost the same amount that it did in 1973. it's only gone up, if you take inflation into account, it's

only gone up by 7% in the 38 years last year which i have numbers as 2011. only gone up 7% less than a fifty fifth of one percent per year. did the economy not grow? of course it grew. all that growth has stuck at the very stop. 1%, 99%, absolutely. so that is story number one that we need to have in mind and understanding why we're stuck. why there are so many people having a tough time. it goes all the way down into people who are working hard and can't get out of poverty. second point, in the terms of the story of the situation that we have, and that is that we had an astonishing increase in the number of people who have incomes below half the poverty

line. deep poverty, extreme poverty, 20.5 million people 20.5 million people in that category. it was 12.6 million at the beginning of this new century, in other words, up by almost 8 million in just 11 or 12 years, and double the percentage doubles since 1976. what's that all about? it's largely about the near demise of cash assistance for mothers and children. second story that's largely about mothers and children, low wage work, deep poverty. we're now at the point where before welfare was, as i said, reform, not reformed, re-formed in 1996, 68% of poor families were received cash assistance.

the benefits were terrible in some places. mississippi they paid 11% of the poverty line. but they were legally obligated to get under federal law to make the welfare afdc as it was then, available to people who came a and applied for it. what's happened? well, let me tell you what's happened in the recession. it's really astonishing. food stamp was at 26 million people in 2007, 26.3 million. in the last five years, that's gone up to 46 million people. in other words, food stamps works. that's why mr. gingrich called president obama the food stamp president. he is the food stamp president. that's great. although -- food stamps were in

face raised somewhat in the recovery act the stimulus legislation. that was a very, very good thing. now, why do d they go up? people had a legal right to get that when they went into the office to apply had to be done. welfare, now temporary assistance to needy families no long aerolegal right. go in, they can say to you, you look healthy, you look like you can work. they can say anything they want. there's no obligation to do that. in the recession it went up from 3.9 million to 4.4 million. 500,000 people over here. 120 million over there. so what do we have now? well the state of wyoming wins the prize. 617 people in the entire state of wyoming moms and kids, 4% of the poor children in wyoming are

getting it. unbelievable. 25 states now six more since i started writing the book have under 20% of the poor kid. no wonder we have people going into deep poverty. jason wrote in the new york thymes in the beginning of 2010. it's the same now if you look at the department of agricultural statistics. 6 million people in the united states of america who have only food stamps for income. only food stamps. astonishing. a third of the poverty line $6 ,000 for a family of three. so that's second story deep poverty. far worse than it was forthy years ago. far worse than it was twelve years ago. third thing we have to have on the table. i already said gender is a major part of the story. of course, race is a major part

of the story. and there are two things to keep in mind about that because it is well to remember especially for political reasons in trying to accomplish things, that the largest number of people in the country who are poor are -- it stands to reason except somehow it doesn't work politically. it stand to reason that, okay, if you make food stamps more available. if you make any benefit that you want more adequate actually helps more white than people of color. okay. full stop on that. other side of it that is 27% poverty african-american, latino, native american, 10% white poverty. so it's a picture that we know except we don't talk about it very much. i always say that the most

dangerous place in america is the intersection between race and poverty. you might have some other nominees. it's a pretty dangerous place to be. and so we need we need to have that conversation, the civil right the issues of the 21 tion century of that race and poverty and of course, education is indeed governor romney said the other day, i had to look at my notes to see if i it had right. and the criminal justice system. because in addition to the discrimination that violates the law continuing job discrimination, various ways discrimination in-housing and houses financial and sos on. we have what we know in terms of the structure, the institutional discrimination of how racism, how our schools operate, our

criminal justice operates. each of those is a shelf books in of itself. marshall alexander in the new jim ceo has so published by the new press has made so clear how our criminal justice system operates. now, that's the kind of basic set of somethings they talk about in the book. i also talk, and i won't go into it in great length here, but about poverty in relation to place. our inner cities, appalachia, india reservations, mississippi delta, all of that that's where we have the persistent poverty. where we have the intergenerational poverty. and i found -- i was down in

north carolina the last three days in occur ram, that's the blue place in north carolina. so, you know, you have to be safe and day in durham. chape l hill, okay, raleigh, sort of. so anyway i went through whey wept through with you. it's crucially important -- even here in washington, we know that places really important about poverty. when we talk about ward seven and eight the issues there and what we have to do. it's so much nor complicated because we have to attack all of these things and deal with the es of peoples' where they will live and deal with the question of looking at jobs as something in the regional economy but it's also something that much manufacture en-- engages people

locally around the country than these things that are matter of federal legislation. we should all be behind being having the best national policy we can have about income and jobs. but the fact is that if we're going do to scare do something about poverty and place, it needs to have local commitment from within the neighborhood, it needs have civic responsibility, it gets much manufacture into the question of personal responsibility, the existence of community development financing institutions and community development corporation all of that becomes very, very important. so remedies -- i won't take a lot of time on that. this is a so easy to go on for hours and hours. i want to get to your questions. but certainly at the heart of

this because at the heart of if we're going end poverty in this country, our jobs. we need to have a full employment economy. we need it center a macrocommitment policy that maximizes the number of people working. we need to have jobs where people end up with an adequate income. fact is, and this is a very troubling fact, and i hope i'm proven wrong about it. but i can tell you the things we should do, not all of -- none of which are easy to do. we should be raising the minimum wage. anybody who has any way to be associatedded unions a and the politickings. we need to strengthen unions. they are so important in the country and they can make such a difference. i heard mary k. henry talk the other day on the american constitution society convention, when you hear the things they're doing around the country, it gives you hope.

that we can really move forward. all of the things we do to -- that are work support that any decent society should do are part of the raising income. whether specifically like the effect of housing vouchers or living in public housing, that has an income equivalent sei, child care. pell grants are obviously worth something, of course, the big one is health care. so maybe i'll call far moment of silence to pray for justice kennedy. [laughter] if you're praying person. if not, think of some other way to communicate. we'll find out on monday and we can hope that the law is constitutional, that the medicaid, you know, if there's any question in anybody's mind about has president obama done what we would have wanted or

done good things about poverty? the answer is that he has. we have 16 million people on medicaid going forward 16 million more people added and we have been trying to have that happen since 1965. that's huge. that's absolutely huge. what he did in the recovery act 30% of that. 787 billion was spend on low-income people. that was terrific. the race to the stop in education. i imagine we can get a pretty strong conversation going about the details of that. probably some differences in room. but it was about low-income kids and improving education for them. we can wish we would have taken more credit for them. and told the country it happened in a clearer way. the but the substance is absolutely clear. besides things they mentioned, we do have income support for people who are working with

children. which is the earned income tax credit, and the child tax credit. those are very important. my worry is that when you add up all of those things and think about what it really costs to have an adequate income to really not worry about whether you're one paycheck away from bankruptcy. whether -- even if you have health insurance, you night not go to the doctor because you're worried about the coinsurance or worried about the deductible. that number is something like the twice postie line that i mentioned earlier. so i'm -- i think, that we're going do somewhat better on the low wage jobs, the chinese are raising wages. in india they're raising wages. i worry and it needs to get boo in to the public conversation. when we do everything we still need to talk about supplementing wages having public policy to

supplement wages. anyway, that's all on the work side. as far as the safety net at the bottom, it's easy to say it's all easy to say, hard to do. we have to restore cash assistance to mothers with children. it has to be connected to work. it has to be designed in the right way but -- but the idea of only somewhat over 20% of american children who are poor are getting cash assistance. it's unacceptable. the remedies go on to with a we need to do about education. what we need to do about the criminal justice system. we need to be talking about the ladders of young opportunity for young people. that's heavily about places as well. the rolf community colleges, all of that. and then there's the question of the politics. and all i can say about that is

it's really up to all of us. it really is -- but we have gone on our side is people power. we know about citizens united. we know about the incredible flood of money that is flowing into our pleks. -- politics. but we have more votes than they do. and i think that the battle ground is especially between that 1% 200% of poverty and into the middle. it's okay if barack obama says we're struggle for the middle. if he would talk about the poor at the same time. but that struggle, there are people by the millions who are voting against their economic self-interest. who somehow they have more in common with people who don't want to give another nickel of the hard earned billion dollars to pay taxes in the country. somehow people who earning

$40,000 or $50,000 think they're in the same boat as that. it's crazy. we absolutely need to get across the very simple point that it's their government. it's our government. those people, us, all the same. and that we want to have a government -- doesn't want to shrink it so small it'll drown in the bathtub. that's the challenge to us saying it's our government. we're going take it back and we're going to do things that helpful to the majority of people in the country. i think -- our occupy got us started. i think we should agree on that. occupy got us started, but, you know, what was about better or worse, it was not about political strategy. made the point. we got 1% and 99 percent out there. i'm a little bit dubious whether

we be got all the way through the 99%. but now it's up to us. fciu faith groups, all of us whenever we affiliate or acting on our own. i think our democracy is in danger. we can't have so much at the power from the top from big corporation and wealthy individuals without becoming a very different country. we can't have these disparities between the top and the bottom and remain the democracy that we really claim we are and want to be. it has to change. it has to change. it changed in the progressive era. we can look back to that, there were the robber barons, the cap tons of industry. they enormous political power and somehow between the muck breakers and people getting out and teddy roosevelt, we did have change in terms of the political

outcomes and in terms what it meant for ordinary people. so i think there's precedent. i think we can do that. i think we can be optimistic as tough as things look now. let me close by quoting my i always end saying this. rabbi abraham joshua who was a great friend of dr. king and a great man himself. said a lot of things. one he said is very simple that is this, we're not all guilty, but we're all responsible. thanks for the chance to speak with you. [applause] [applause] dwreet. we'll have time for q and a. for the reminder after that there will be a book signing. it you don't have your book yet,

you can get it in the front. we support unions and independent bookstores. anybody have a question? [inaudible] the shorter you keep the question, her the more people we get to hear from. quickly introduce yourself and ask your question. >> hi. [inaudible] i was wondering, in -- [inaudible] the way they do and i [inaudible] my question is how do you address the solution. how do you make it in a way they understand the way their voting in the situation? >> well, we obviously haven't figured that out, have we? we thought we were making progress in 2008. we had fabulous participation, i'm sure many of us in the room. we had a real presidential contest right next door in have

virginia. we could go over there and canvas and make a difference for barack obama. and it seems to me that a lot of the us after that said okay, now you're president. you go do it. that was a huge mistake. that doesn't answer your question. but it maybe adds to the question. i think over a period of time, it really is a combination of getting more people who are communicating in this way and using all the ways like social media and everything else. there are people in the room who do it all the time. do fabulous work. it all makes a difference. it's organizing at the local level that we have that needs to get better. the other thing is, i wowblght have thought we would have rich -- reaching the tipped point by now, to use another author's

term. we haven't. my analogy, my reference to the progressive era suggests that it's out there. you know, it's you saw the movie networking. it's getting mad. i'm not going to take if anymore. i think it's out there. i don't know -- i can't say exactly when. we can't go on this way. do i have a blueprint? exactly how to do it? if i do d, i would have written it. i would be yelling and screaming and so on and so on. and -- but the challenge of trying to -- what happens on the ground and what happens up here that reaches people on the ground. ..

>> this is tough. we want to be optimistic. but the american dream all

americans who have children with the same chance as those at the top of is not correct. it is a tough story. that mobility has been stuck and very connected to low-wage jobs because all of us have children and grandchildren with the most education that they can. to get across the adl has narrowed that was true between that in 1973. it is with the african-american community.

those born into middle income families and our were born into them in the '70s is in the lowest quartile. do not to all on that. it is very disturbing. but that is true across racial lines. very much a part of the story we have to tell the. >> talk about the extreme four categories.

[inaudible] >> we don't know enough. you put your finger on the important piece of the picture. reno people in extreme poverty disproportionate the in the south, mothers and children, although some single individuals. disproportionately people of color. go to the applied ridge reservation in south dakota and you will see extreme poverty. the point* you raise the

ball topple barriers is what we have done to welfare. when we were under 4 million people many who were left behind a and largely people with local beers. a lot of research said where the more robust economy, people could work but you had to support them more. whether learning disabilities, substance

abuse problem our domestic violence. congress in 2005 and went exactly the opposite direction that if you really want did more people to go to work you have to pay attention in the individual way. it has been done quite successfully with moms who have issues. coaching, stay with them. you can do it. it is easier not to bother. yes. if you want to be serious we either have to provide cash

assistance or create the job. >> [inaudible] our if you give money zero hour time about investing with long-term change. [laughter] >> divided 50/50. we have to reelect barack obama and also the clinic

for the homeless and and and. if you allow me to speak in the war general way to go into day political campaign teaches us to be more democratic. all of the great organizations for those that are vital and with the changes of income policy, if we could help them do a fabulous saying one by one in the course of the

lifetime we have to give money. maybe i have more money to give away and then you. i do both. [laughter] >> just to respond this conversation aside i think it is more effective to find your issue and work hard. it is homeless issues for me, , etc. to give your time and money to those causes. >> i like that.

i will take at as a friendly amendment. >> looking at why the big picture is there a difference between legal assistance? >> yes. what did you say i was going to say? [laughter] >> my friend is looking at me. [laughter] by eight chair the d.c. access to justice commission. but i know of so local the goal services committee, 95% of people who come have no lawyer.

we have good laws on the books to protect them naysay counseling center to get a briefing how to go there. but they are basically destined to lose with no lawyer. when we can get them a lawyer or limited scope representation, it makes a huge difference. we went to our city council. there were 43 states putting money yen and washington d.c. was not.

now 30 are financed with city money and doubled the lawyers working full-time east of the river. whether public benefits or a consumer issue, family law law, all of that. in a specific cases it is a difference between being in poverty and not. >> to focus on the issue we don't focus on and it is about poverty.

i have worked over 20 years and in the '60s was the food industry as it started to address poverty that now we are disconnected and that has not served us well. >> obviously obviously the very serious problems the various ways people make the difference one on one floor the public policies keeping 40 million out of poverty.

i guess if we had a war on poverty such to protect their own programs to have your passion on immigration. some overarching issues that don't try to a particular aim -- name you are right to get fried public support at least if we identify the problem the way in which

they do communicate bill the bay constituency on the cost cutting basis. don't just lobby on your issue zero but get on those who don't own them as well. this. >> talk about the rich getting richer and some argue that helps the country. knu talk about cause and effect? >> i guess i could talk

about how trickle-down does not work. not paying enough taxes means we don't have enough money to run the government. if we spend a necessarily on defense it is not just about taxes. there is one aspect those who have got it today and those who do not share it by a lot. but the power that is not just money.

as part of of social fabric and not included. that is in a much more awful way with just a few handfuls like the coke brothers is us combination of the literal affect with the community it is much more than the offense's themselves.

and to pull of the game played and set the trap to the quality of the democracy itself. >> [inaudible] [inaudible] >> do you want to me to ask?

[laughter] [applause] make them raise their hands? anybody who wants to confess don't you think anybody who would hear this would be registered? you are absolutely writ -- absolutely right. thank you so much. [applause] >> i wanted to read one of the more moving passages of what is happening what happens before the camera is rolling.

that was not their intent. it was brutally clear when he kicked me with his boot to in this side of my face. slyke somebody had taken a baseball bat to my face then he slammed to be in my lower leg. i heard a crack but the rest day and officer he had a guardian angel. i know this will sound strange but i felt safe at the scene the eternal presence. i shouted out to her. they don't have to do this.

they don't have to do this. >> when i was pulled over i should not me drinking and driving. from being and ensure at dodger stadium he called me on thursday and told me to be ready to go to work. i did not let them know i'd be going to work. and i did not want to be stuck in this same community.

the only thing i could take was that job. i knew i had been drinking. i worked myself. coming out of prison trying to do the right thing. then you go back to jail. with a highway patrol car to get away from a helicopter. [laughter] >> you thought you could for a minute? word to you in the hyundai.

[laughter] >> a joke is why was also pushing the hyundai at the time. [laughter] with a coupon hatchback i used to drive from philadelphia attitude chicago in the allegheny mountains would not get past 55. [laughter] you thought you were the hot rod. >> exactly but to my surprise they caught up with me. they pulled up to the side of may. [laughter] cool over. i had to think fast rino the

beating is coming. that is our widows. how was looking for a well lit area to stop and ratios was apartment buildings. i said if it goes bad maybe somebody will come outside and sure enough it went bad. the highway patrol the initial ones on the case. they already ordered me out of the darfur pro i laid down. face down. she got my wallet. they are popping the trump

trying to get out the taser i am laying on floor face down. tell them they don't have to do this. i know what will happen. her husband walked up. and kicked me in the temple area and broke my job. housewife feel it was broken that point* i could not what him know he got the best of me. which he did. i feel fine. the sergeant heard that and gave me the taser right away.

he is leading me up. how you feel now? he said we will kill you nigger run. i hesitated looking for clearance. when i see it it was between the police officer and the hyundai. when this late went in front of me i did not know it was broke. it made it look like going after him. >> and the video was not running? >> it did catch that.

it did not catch them name-calling and the taser 50,000 volts going through the body. he did that to three shots and discharge those. but they beach me with the baton telling me to stay still. you cannot stay still with that voltage running through the body. and beating me at the same time. i was playing with matches what i was a kid my dad told me to take a bath and do not dry off.

he had the extension cord waiting for me. it prepared me. the shocking is the same feeling. it is horrible. it was 20 times worse than the extension cord. he did it and tell it ran out of course, i was regrouping. i tried to stay still excuse me. [laughter] so he starts beating me some more because i was moving. i could hear him calling me then names and once you start cursing and beating somebody they get into it.

you have the moment in the book where you insert to yourself into the long history to make a specific reference. >> what gave me strength good blacks before me went through this in slavery. up until this day and i say a moment to think. and still go through when not caught. i have to survive this.