CONCORD, N.H. – If you are feeling as if the whole economy is tilted against you, you are not alone.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning author is in the Granite State today with advice for getting the nation back into gear.
Hedrick Smith, author of "Who Stole the American Dream," will be in Plymouth talking about the 22 million Americans who are still out of work and the nation's political system, which he says is dismantling the American Dream.
"I think there is a great frustration at the moment with the functioning of the political system,” he says, “with campaigns that are dominated by money, with an economy that's increasingly unequal."
Smith addressed students at UNH last night, and this morning he will be at Boyd Hall at Plymouth State.
Stephen Gorin, executive director of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, agrees that politicians are tilting the system in favor of the wealthy.
He says so-called entitlement cuts currently under debate in Congress will only serve to increase that gap – especially proposed changes to Social Security such as the Chained CPI.
"Cumulatively, the average New Hampshire worker's benefits would be cut by $3,700 by age 75,” he says, “and $11,000 by age 85, and by $22,000 by age 95 with a Chained CPI."
Gorin adds lawmakers may have to consider increasing taxes on the wealthy.
And, at least when it comes to corporate taxes, Smith says a lot of that can be accomplished by closing loopholes.
"We can do tax reform in corporate taxes and do what a lot of people in New Hampshire want to do, lower the rates” he says. “But stop the giveaways to big corporations and the banks that are already making enormous profits."
Smith also holds a conversation tonight at the AFL-CIO Union Hall in Hooksett.
