September 23, 2005: U.S. National Policy Institute Recommends: Abolish Affirmative Action
News Release
Friday, September 23, 2005
National Policy Institute
Contact: Peter B. Gemma, Media Director
703-442-0558 ■ pbg@nationalpolicyinstitute.org
NPI Analysis: Abolish Affirmative Action
Repeal Executive Order 11246 − “unnecessary burden of direct and
indirect costs to taxpayers; undercuts merit-based employment practices.”
McLean, Virginia ― In a review of “affirmative action” policies, researcher and statistician Edwin Rubenstein declares that a rollback of race and gender preferences “may be one of the most efficient pro-growth policies available to the federal government.”
In an Analysis paper entitled “Affirmative Action and the Costs of Diversity: Racial Preferences Thrive Under Bush Administration” (#100; published by the National Policy Institute and available at its website, www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org), the author explains that affirmative action programs:
● put a cloud over minority workers who have advanced because of their innate ability.
● reduce incentives of both groups to perform at their bestthe preferred because they
dont have to, the non-preferred because extra effort seems futile.
● increase incentives to hire illegal immigrants who cannot sue for alleged EEOC violations.
● force employers to spend billions on compliance instead of productive investments,
thereby reducing employment opportunities for all groups.
The author points out that raw political power is fueling the affirmative action agenda:
Reverse discrimination is the law of the land. To affirmative action ideologues, however, its “pay back”
time, when white American males must atone for their alleged economic advantageseven if they grew
up poor. White males are the only growth area for the modern victim movement, says John Leo, a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report. Everybody else is covered. In typical
Washington style, a program designed to aid disadvantaged minorities metastasizes into a near-
universal entitlement. Is there a method to this madness? You bet: By casting a wide affirmative action
net the federal government has vastly increased political support for such programs.
see next page
NEWS RELEASE: September 23, 2005
NPI: Abolish Affirmative Action page two of two
Rubenstein also ties affirmative action policies with runaway immigration statistics, noting that: “Since the onset of affirmative action in the 1960s, the employment-population ratio for black workers has deteriorated relative to that of whites and Hispanics. This could reflect the reluctance of employers to hire workers likely to file affirmative action lawsuits.” He goes on
to point out:
The onslaught of poorly educated, mainly Hispanic, immigrants has stymied good faith efforts of
low income Americansminority and white aliketo climb up the economic ladder. If contracts
were awarded to the lowest qualified bid, discrimination would not enter the picture. Firms that
pay minority and female workers less than their “marginal product” would lose qualified
workersand their competitive advantageto non-discriminating competitors. Eventually they
would fold.
“Affirmative Action and the Economic Costs of Diversity” is a 13 page report buttressed with charts and economic data, including numbers reflecting federal contracts awarded to minority and female owned firms. Under the Bush Administration, those figures doubled in the four-year period between 2000-2004.
The National Policy Institutes Analysis paper #100, Edward Rubensteins “Affirmative Action and the Economic Costs of Diversity,” is available in PDF format at NPIs internet site (www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org). The website also features news and commentary on the critical issues facing Americas future from the state of emergency on our uncontrolled southwest border with Mexico to the rising violence of Latino gangs throughout our suburban communities. Background information on the NPI board, senior fellows, staff, and the issues NPI addresses can be found there. Working journalists are encouraged to request printed versions of NPI publications.
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