We literally don't know what has happened to them. None of this is publicized by politicians taking credit for a great reform. When the time limits hit or a recession comes or if both occur together, we will be beset by very serious problems. Despite all this, welfare reform also creates new opportunities if our civic institutions, especially at the community level, can mobilize in response. This means business, labor unions, philanthropies, religious institutions, universities, nonprofit organizations-in short, everyone.
Federal policies remain vital, but by themselves they are insufficient.
And an activated civil society must be animated by a politics of economics. Over half the American people have lost economic ground during the past twenty-five years, while the top 20 percent have done very well and the top 1 percent extraordinarily well. And while we must still struggle against discrimination of all kinds, we need also to pare down the rough edges of identity politics so as to accentuate the unaddressed common interests that taken together could build a new majority. America has always had strong civic institutions in its communities. What we need now is still the right balance, not just a clever repackaging.