Van Hollen, Mayors: Jobs, Education Needed in US Inner Cities

The local, state, and federal government can do much to better the situations in America's inner-cities, but what residents need are jobs and education, which will give them a "sense hope and a vision for the future," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told CNN Sunday.

"What we are really talking about is long-term employment in communities of color, especially African-American young men and boys," Nutter said told CNN "State of the Union" host Michael Smerconish. "What we are talking about is a lack of educational attainment."

But without those, there are many of people saying they don't see the kind of change they want to see, said Nutter, who appeared on the show with Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Birmingham Mayor William Bell to discuss the situation in Baltimore, where rioting has quieted since Friday's announcement that six police officers were being charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

There are further issues that need to be handled beyond the concerns about crime and violence in the nation's communities, said Nutter.

"Summer is coming and summer jobs are critically important, but year-round employment as well, and investments in workforce training and development problems [are needed]," he continued. "This is very complicated and it requires all of us to work together."

Bell added that the issues in Baltimore are not limited to African-Americans or to Baltimore, but "this is an American problem" and called for all levels of government to restore a social safety net to ensure that everybody gets a decent education.

"Once you get that education, you have an opportunity to get a decent job and to build your neighborhoods and strengthen your communities," said Bell. "We had the last six or seven years of stagnation coming from the federal government and at the local government level ... we have to find the solutions and implement them."

Van Hollen agreed that there are many underlying problems that need addressed by government at all levels.

"The debate going on right now in Washington, while it's often abstract in terms of numbers and documents, the real world impact it can have will make a difference in peoples' lives," said Van Hollen. But there are proposals, he insisted that would do things like scaling back a child tax credit, which will "put millions of more Americans in poverty."

"We have proposals to improve investments in child care, in early education, and also expand, for example, the Earned Income Tax credit, something Republicans say they are for but have not put the money into the budget to address," Van Hollen claimed.
In Philadelphia, Nutter said there has been a reduction of violent crime, including 37 percent fewer homicide cases.

"People are not willing to put up with any level of crime," he said. "We did decriminalize, not legalize, but decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, but if you break into somebody's car, I am not going to say to the citizens, that's not a violent crime so we are not going to do anything about it. That's insane."

Van Hollen said he does not agree with Republicans who say further funding for America's social issues has been a failure.

"It has not been a failure according to the president's council and economic advisers, and if you did not have the great society war on poverty, 40 million more Americans would be in poverty," he said. "We have made gains, but we know from what is happening in Baltimore and around the country, we have a long way to go."

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