Politicos take the first step toward addressing urban ills

Political advisors, political cartoonists and politicians themselves discussed current urban problems in America before an audience of 200 students and faculty members in Meyerson Hall yesterday afternoon. The discussion, entitled "Presidential Leadership and the Future of American Cities" and sponsored by the Fox Leadership Program, featured a panel of experts well-versed in political discourse. Among those on campus yesterday were William Bennett, former Education Secretary and author of The Death of Outrage; Stephen Goldsmith, chief domestic policy advisor to Texas Gov. George W. Bush and the former mayor of Indianapolis; and Harvard Professor Elaine Kamarck, Goldsmith's counterpart in the Gore campaign. John DiIulio, a Penn Political Science professor, and Philadelphia Inquirer cartoonist Signe Wilkinson also participated. The panel discussed ways in which the federal government could help cities overcome problems like crime and poverty. "The president should remind us of who and what we have forgotten," said Bennett, an outspoken critic of President Clinton who worked in the Reagan and Bush administrations. "I think the underclass has been forgotten. Some people believe that there isn't one anymore. They have become more and more invisible." Bennett also brought up the ever-controversial issue of drug legalization. He said many students he knows support it, but residents of drug-ridden areas seem to be universally opposed. Finally, he turned to education by focusing on school choice. "We really have a good idea of what works in American education; we need to do it more often." Continuing on this theme, Kamarck discussed drugs and crime, as well. "This connection between drugs and crime is very, very close," she said. "We really ought to pay attention to what's happening in prisons." She also said that she believes today's prisons do nothing to rehabilitate inmates. She then stressed the need for better housing and infrastructure, including better transportation links between cities and suburban jobs. She ended on an optimistic note: "Cities are not in such terrible shape, not so passe as some people think they are." Goldsmith then took the floor to advocate the creation of a "foundation of wealth," which would be a blend of national leadership and funding, with local interests determining how money is spent. Cities -- and not state governments -- should be the ones making legislation. In contrast, he noted, "We have a child welfare system that is in disarray... because it works from the top down." On Penn's involvement in West Philadelphia, Goldsmith said: "Penn and Yale have the best reputations in the country." Wilkinson began her remarks by calling herself "a bleeding-heart liberal and 'feminazi'... usually the one who throws potshots at powerful people." She pointed out that much of the poverty in North Philadelphia "was created by democrat mayors going back 50 years." Bipartisan government, she added, "might be a good thing."