Why this Newsletter?
Join a conversation about wealth and income inequality in the United States.
What happens to society when great wealth and income reside primarily with a small minority? What are the consequences when potentially billions of dollars in tax revenue are lost annually because the wealthiest members of society fail to pay their fair share? What are the tax consequences to “The Little People” when the wealthy enjoy large tax cuts and yet still avoid fair scrutiny by an IRS that is denied an adequate enforcement budget?
Can, or should, our tax laws be amended in a way that increases funds available for such social benefits as early childhood education, enhanced medical coverage for seniors and the uninsured, confronting the challenges of a changing climate, even affording reparations for historical harm to Black and Native Americans? If so, how? And, why has it been so difficult to change the law related to these areas of societal concern?
But, we hope this letter won’t end with our comments on these topics. We also wish to facilitate a conversation with our readers about what a fully funded democracy should look like and perhaps even identify some steps toward its achievement.
Who are we? The three originators of this weekly letter are John Denvir, David Fielding and Rob Waring. See below for information about our background. It is our intention to post a new letter each Saturday that discusses various aspects of the great wealth and income inequality that exists in the United States. Readers will be invited to comment and engage in a dialogue with one another and with the writers about their posts. Eventually, we intend to invite guest authors to contribute posts
John Denvir: is a lawyer whose first job was at a legal services office in El Centro, California which mostly represented Mexican American and African American clients. (He met David Fieldling there.) He then taught Constitutional Law at the University of San Francisco for many ears. He met Rob Waring at USF where they cofounded the website Picturing Justice, featuring commentaries about film and television depictions of law, lawyers and the legal system. Denvir published probably too many law review articles, but also two books on law for people who skipped law school that he is proud of: Democracy’s Constitution and Guile is Good! Why We Need Lawyers. He also edited a companion blog Guile is Good.
David Fielding: practiced civil rights and employment law in San Francisco with two law school buddies for 37 years. His World View has been shaped in part by Peace Corps service in Cuzco, Peru; community law practice for two years with the California Rural Legal Assistance program in Calexico, California (where he met John Denvir); work as an advisor to the legal aid program of the University of Costa Rica Law School; and a brief stint as an owner/operator of a coffeehouse in San Jose, Costa Rica. More recently he joined his wife and three Italians to co-author a book about Salento, a region in the heel of Italy’s boot (Salento by 5: Friendship, Food, Music and Travel Within the Heel of Italy’s Boot). He is currently an avid amateur birdwatcher, student of Italian and an observer-with-an-opinion of the political scene.
Rob Waring: is a Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist, and represented foster children in Oakland, CA for sixteen years. His passion is ensuring effective mental health services for children and he is currently part of a team that is trying to remedy inequities in funding. He created statutes protecting the confidentiality of foster children’s mental information. Earlier in his career, he was Legislative Counsel for the California Judges Association, where he worked with the State Legislature on a wide range of issues concerning the courts. He was Chairman of the California State Bar Legal Services Trust Fund Commission. He has taught law school classes in Legal Ethics and in Law and Popular Culture, and written law review articles about First Amendment issues at public universities. (It was while seeking advice for his first article that he got to know John Denvir.) He has also written extensively about gender issues in the workplace, and worked in the software industry before law school.
Guest Contributor
Alexander Auerbach: began his career as a business reporter with The Boston Globe, later joined The Los Angeles Times, and was an American correspondent for The Economist. With the support of his editors, he expanded his coverage to include the social impact of corporate activities – hiring policies, inequitable pay, bias in insurance and lending practices, pollution and waste, siting of retail and food stores in underserved neighborhoods, responsiveness to shareholder initiatives, cultural messages in entertainment media, and other nontraditional topics for business pages. He also examined spending by government agencies on public services in affluent and lower-income neighborhoods. For 10 years he served on the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and for five years was an advisor to the Daniel Pearl Foundation. He has a BA from Columbia, and an MBA from UCLA. He is now a communications consultant and editor/publisher of Pathogenews.com, which covers leading-edge medical research.
Guest Contributor
Marge Plecki, Ph.D.: is Professor Emerita at the University of Washington, Seattle. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research and teaching expertise focuses on finance, policy, leadership, and equity in elementary and secondary schools. She also specializes in mixed methods research design. Her most recent work, Seeking a Path to Educational Justice in Washington State, is a collaboration with other academics and community-based partners. She has served as the President of the Association for Education Finance and Policy and the Director of the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy. In addition to her academic experience, she also has worked as a special education teacher and a school district administrator.
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