OBAMA E O PRÉ-ESCOLAR

WHAT’S NEW Robert L. Park  15 Feb 2013 Washington, DC

 CLASS WARFARE: OBAMA'S STATE-OF-THE-UNION ADDRESS.

 "It is our unfinished task," the president said, "to restore the basic bargain that built this country, the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities you can get ahead, no matter where you come fr no matter what you look like or who you love." Equal opportunity was Obama’s clear theme. "Tonight let's declare that, in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty -- and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour." Obama and Romney agreed a year ago that the minimum wage should be linked to the cost of living so worker's income is not always left lagging behind the economy. Even liberal politicians usually stop there. However, with families to support, workers can't take an unpaid sabbatical to prepare for the next level. That option is open only to the wealthy. So Obama proposed an emphasis on making high-quality preschool programs available to middle-class parents. As Gail Collins points out in Thursday's New York Times, this goes back to Walter Mondale’s Comprehensive Child Development Act. Obama proposed working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America.

Robert Park