THE TWO PERCENT SOLUTION: Fixing America's Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love

Miller counts off the grim statistics of American society's most intractable problems: "40 million uninsured; 15 million working poor; 10 million poor kids in failing schools." Soon, making these costs seem trivial, baby boomers will retire. And the political system, distorted by money and special interests, refuses to seriously address these issues. Miller, a radio commentator and syndicated columnist, has a plan. With an increase of government spending of 2% of GDP, we can solve all these problems, but it will require "grand bargains" between the parties, with Democrats agreeing to accept market-oriented programs if Republicans will generously fund them. For instance, Miller says many Republicans would support universal health coverage if Democrats would allow a plan relying on tax subsidies to cover private insurance policies. Based on similar principles, Miller crafts Solomonic proposals to raise teacher pay, experiment with school vouchers, subsidize a living wage for poor workers, publicly finance elections, slow the growth rate of Social Security and Medicare expenses, and offset the costs of the new initiatives. Though he calls it "ideologically androgynous," Miller's agenda resembles the New Democrat platform and will be a harder sell to the committed tax cutters of the GOP. Miller has pitched his "Two Percent Solution" to dozens of influential policymakers across the political spectrum. The cautiously favorable reactions he reports from these encounters and from focus groups and polling commissioned for the book are the most convincing evidence of the plausibility of his vision. Sadly, sensible compromise still seems unlikely, but Miller's unflappable salesmanship is irresistible. (Sept.)