AL JAZEERA 02/04/12
By Michael Shank and US Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN)

As the Republican candidates depart the southeast United States to head to Nevada, one topic seems to have escaped their attention entirely: a credible economic cure for what ails the states where they’re waging their campaigns for president. Naturally, each of the Republican candidates claims that their economic policy prescriptions are superior to those of their rivals. However, when tested against the economic reality facing families in Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, or elsewhere, their rhetoric falls far short of addressing the most pressing problems facing each state.

Nevada, Florida and South Carolina have some of the highest rates of homicide, violent crime and incarceration in the US. All three states are also home to the highest percentages of individuals without health insurance, the highest number of children living in single-parent households and the highest incidence of adult-onset diabetes. These trends spell disaster for ordinary working families struggling to get by in today’s economy. Combined, they continue to keep all three states near the bottom of the US Peace Index, an annual ranking of states prepared by the Institute of Economics and Peace that measures the human cost of violence as well as the economic benefits of peace in each US state.

The Peace Index shows what many people already take for granted: violence substantially undermines the economies of states and cities where it occurs. Last year, the estimated cost of violence to Nevada’s economy was close to $5.3bn, while the cost to South Carolina’s economy was close to $9bn – and the cost to Florida’s economy exceeded $37bn. To date, we’ve heard very little in terms of substance from the candidates on the issues shown to most closely correlate with the Peace Index.

To his credit, in an exchange with Mitt Romney at the South Carolina debate, Rick Santorum raised the issue of restoring the voting rights of felons who have paid their debt to society, which he rightly supports. One of the more interesting findings of the Peace Index study is the discovery that, regardless of party affiliation, there is a significant correlation between voter participation in a state and its overall level of peace.

Will the Republican candidates have something more substantial to say about these issues by the time they arrive in Tennessee’s primary next month? Let’s hope so, because by nearly any measure, Rep Cohen’s home state of Tennessee faces an even greater challenge than Nevada, Florida or South Carolina. All three states rank among the least peaceful in the nation. At 49th on the 2011 US Peace Index, Tennessee has spent the past 12 years near the bottom of the index. Not only does Tennessee have some of the highest rates of homicide and violent crime, but at 17 per cent, its poverty rate is also one of the highest in the nation.

Tennessee has also struggled with some of the lowest rates of high school graduation, labour force participation and educational opportunity in the US. Rep Cohen was proud to pass the Tennessee Education Lottery in 2003, which gives thousands of students across the state a chance to further their education through Hope Scholarship grants. However, a college scholarship is only helpful to students who graduate high school in the first place. While we’ve made great improvement over the past decade, Tennessee’s high school dropout rate is still unacceptably high. The Peace Index study shows that one of the strongest influences on the state’s level of violence is the percentage of adults with high school diplomas.

If the value of peace and economic justice to Tennessee communities is not already plainly apparent, the financial burden it places on businesses and taxpayers should make it crystal clear to anyone. Violence costs Tennesseans an estimated $12bn annually in law enforcement costs and lost economic activity. As the economy struggles to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, we simply can’t afford to keep paying the price of ignoring these problems.

President Obama recently proposed a sweeping jobs plan that would go a long way toward addressing many of these issues. To the Republican presidential hopefuls: what prescriptions will you offer for these chronic problems facing Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere? Will you direct your campaigns to work toward preventing ongoing violence in our society by placing an emphasis on education, employment and economic equality? It may not win you many friends on Wall Street or K Street, but you will win hearts and minds on Main Streets across the US.

Poverty and inequality – whether in Tennessee, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, or elsewhere – are unacceptable if we want to live in a truly great nation.  We cannot presume to lead the world when nearly a third of all Americans live in poverty or in low-income households. The US deserves leaders who, rather than campaigning on behalf of the elite minority represented by the super PACs, will instead work toward the attainment of the supreme ideal of the American Dream.

Congressman Steve Cohen is the US Representative for Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Michael Shank is US Vice-President at the Institute for Economics and Peace. He also serves on the board of the National Peace Academy, is a doctoral candidate at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and an Associate at the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict.

Follow Steve Cohen on Twitter: @RepCohen and Michael Shank on: @Michael_Shank

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.