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Combating Fake News

Fake news and alternative facts are not new phenomena.  Although known by many names, they are as common as the air that we breathe and they are spread from many sources – sometimes our own government.

I was a 1950s elementary schooler when I first heard about “propaganda”. That was the word used in newspapers, radio and TV to characterize lies and half-truths told by Russians (USSR at the time) to trick people into supporting communist revolutions around the world.  There were reports of communist “infiltrators” manipulating the entertainment industry, civil rights movements, labor unions, and even government agencies.

It became personal when anonymous people called our home with threats because my mother was leading a PTA effort to apply fluoride to the teeth of elementary school students.  Some people were convinced by fake news that fluoride treatment was a communist plot; therefore my mother must be a communist sympathizer.

By the dawn of the 1960’s I wondered about a billboard in my hometown that read “Impeach Earl Warren”.  Warren was a Republican Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appointed by President Eisenhower.  The reason that I heard for wanting to impeach him was that he had led the court in deciding “Brown vs Board of Education” – the landmark court case which required integration of public schools across the nation.  Earl Warren sounded like a hero to me, not a villain.  The court’s decision held and Warren was not impeached but conservatives still rail against “activist” judges who “legislate from the bench” on issues such as same sex marriage.  To me, those decisions are supporting equal rights for all Americans.  I don’t understand people who see them as infringing on the rights of states unless the argument is that states have a right to discriminate against minorities.

Throughout history, strongly held beliefs and greed have tempted people to get their way by any means necessary including fake news, alternative truth, and propaganda.  By whatever name, lies persist.  Benjamin Franklin published a fake issue of a newspaper reporting that British loyalists sent the scalps of American patriots, taken by Native American allies of the crown, to King George as gifts.  The claim was untrue but it helped build revolutionary sentiment.  Was it OK for Franklin to do that in support of the revolutionary cause that he believed to be just?  More recently, an anti-abortion Christian group created fake news videos that seemed to show Planned Parenthood executives selling body parts of aborted fetuses.  The allegations are false but they still fuel efforts to de-fund and discredit Planned Parenthood.  Tobacco companies created fake science to convince us that cigarettes are not bad for our health.  Carbon fuel companies publish fake science to convince us that burning their products doesn’t cause climate change.

Russia publishes fake news with the obvious intent of undermining American confidence in our own political system, institutions and citizenry.  They will incite mistrust across racial, religious, cultural, political or any other American division if they think it will weaken us.  It works, and it shouldn’t surprise us.  Do we do similar things in Iran, Russia and other nations that we see as adversaries?

Our own government has fabricated fake news to create public support for wars.  President Johnson did it to gain congressional and public support for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that authorized expansion of the Vietnam War.  The Reagan Administration did it in order to carry out the Iran-Contra affair.

If fake news is all around us, how do we find truth as a basis for decisions?  First, pay attention to competent, professional journalism across the political spectrum.  Journalists are not shyNazi Dinosaurs about pointing out the errors of competitors.  Their self-policing will help identify fake news.  Second, find credible sources in addition to mainstream news media.  Two of my favorites are “Scientific American” and “Commonwealth Fund”.  You can choose from many others.  Third, don’t spread stories on social media without checking whether they’re true.  Maybe it seems humorous, but there are people who actually believe even the most outrageous of posts.  Fourth, don’t allow, and whenever possible prosecute elected and other government officials responsible for intentional publication of untrue information.

Our commitment to truth must be stronger than our desire to persuade others to our point of view.  It is the truth that keeps us free.

 

All Posts, Christianity, donald trump, justice, religion, taxes

Real Christmas Light

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In a conversation about the state of our world, a friend asked what my subject would be for a “Christmas column”.  My immediate reaction was cynicism.  It seemed unfitting to celebrate Christmas in a world where borders matter more than starving refugees, where the wealthy get a tax cut paid for with borrowed money, and where self-professed Christians in movements like Aryan Nation Church of Jesus Christ and Westboro Baptist Church preach racism and intolerance in Jesus’ name.

A day passed by before it occurred to me that Jesus was born, lived and was crucified in a world not so different from our own.  His teaching, preaching and example were about living in a flawed, unfair and sometimes hostile world.  What better time and place to celebrate his birth, life and sacrifice than here and now, in our own darkness?  The light that he brought to his world can brighten our own.

The land where Jesus lived was ruled by the most powerful military force of its time, the Roman Empire.  They allowed significant local autonomy as long people paid taxes to the empire and didn’t attempt insurrection.  Regional government was based on Jewish religious laws under Roman supervision.  Political and financial power were often abused.  The temple tax, owed by everyone, enriched the high priests.  It also paid temple employees including musicians, janitors, decorators, guards and those who sold animals for sacrifice. They sustained the mystique of the temple and the belief that High Priests could influence God through rituals.  Little tax money trickled down to the poor.

There were a lot of itinerant preacher/teacher/rabbis in Jesus’ time.  People were angry, especially in rural areas where taxes were collected to support Rome and Jerusalem while poverty reigned locally.  Jesus directed his ministry to the poor, the working class, the disenfranchised, and much of the time he simply ignored Rome and Jerusalem.  He recruited fishermen, laborers, and other common people as followers.

Stories of his work include miracles to benefit the sick and poor.  The lepers who were healed were outcasts under Jewish law.  The prostitutes (identified as “sinners”) with whom he reportedly dined at a tax collector’s invitation are thought to have been hired as after-dinner entertainment – women who had only their bodies to sell.

Jesus did far more than heal and feed people.  He taught a better way of living that became a movement.  It was based on two principles – love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Today people sometimes debate what “God” and “neighbor” mean.  Nevertheless, Jesus’ teaching is so clear that we can apply it to our 21st century lives.

It’s almost as important to recognize what Jesus didn’t do as what he did.  Did Jesus ever pray for rain in the desert, military defeat of the Roman invaders or other intervention in daily life?  He taught others to pray for enough food to get through the day, forgiveness of sins and recognition of temptation – nothing more.  He never tried to enforce his values through civil laws.  People were free to follow or not.  He never asked for contributions to build a cathedral, a megachurch or even a small one.  Nor did he urge placing a monument to the Ten Commandments at every courthouse.

Jesus cared about individuals but he also spoke to and about government when he overturned the money changers’ tables where the poor were legally cheated by a government sanctioned religion.  He engaged in civil disobedience to save the life of a woman caught in the act of adultery.  The prescribed penalty was for her to be stoned to death.  Jesus halted the stoning with this challenge, “Let anyone who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Who was this man who changed our world so much?  Once, when he was asked, he replied with a question of his own, “Who do you say that I am?”  Do you say he is Son of God, Messiah and Savior?  Or is he a teacher whose powerful ideas will, if we follow them, allow us to live peaceably together?

Regardless of our 21st century answer to his question, his birth, his life and his sacrifice are worthy of celebration. By applying his teaching today we can bring light to a dark world. 

Are we willing?

Hugh Haynie Christmas Cartoon

Permission for use of this Hugh Haynie cartoon was granted by the Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary

All Posts, budget, Congress, deficit, economy, taxes

THE COMING FISCAL CRISIS

The caller was a friend that I haven’t seen for too long.  She’s up in years, older even than me, but as quick-witted and engaging as I remembered.  “Why”, she wanted to know, “haven’t you written about Republicans’ plan to take away deductions for medical expenses?”  Then she told me her story.  I had promised myself a respite from the tax law controversy, but it’s too important to be left alone.

Karen and her husband Jim (not their real names) are neither poor nor wealthy.  They saved and managed their money well in preparation for retirement but Jim is now ill, disabled, and in need of daily assistance in just about all of his activities.  With Karen’s help, he doesn’t have to go to a nursing home, but she can’t meet all of his needs so she pays for daily help.  Medicare and insurance don’t cover the cost.  The budget is tight but they make it work.

Under current tax law Karen can deduct medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of their income.  So, if their taxable income is $50,000 and the medical expenses not covered by insurance are $20,000, here’s how it works.  They pay an amount equal to 10 percent of income, $5000 in this case.  That leaves another $15,000 of expenses that she can deduct from their income.  So they will pay income tax on $35,000 rather than $50,000.  If they are in the 15 percent tax bracket, the deduction would save them $2250.  That’s a lot of money when you’re on a tight budget.

The fate of their deductions will be decided behind closed doors in a House-Senate Conference Committee.   The Senate version of the Republican bill will allow the deduction.  If the House version passes, Karen and Jim will be spared the trouble of keeping records because the expenses won’t be deductible.

“What can we do?” Karen asked me.  I stuttered a lot trying to find an answer.  She wrote and called congressmen.  She never got to talk to one and her perception is that their minds are made up to pass a bill quickly without considering who will be hurt.  She’ll try again anyway because neither of us knows an alternative.

The fates of Karen, Jim and millions of other Americans are in the hands of congressional Republicans who seem intent on passing a law before public opposition rises to an insurmountable level.  There have been no public hearings with expert testimony, no people like Karen explaining their concerns and few, if any, town hall meetings where legislators face voter questions. Republicans seem desperate to pass something – anything – rather than face economists, experts and angry constituents.

It’s easy to get lost in lists of tax bill losers: the sick, graduate students, the middle class, residents of high tax states, on and on.  Hundreds of issues are up for grabs.  They’re all important but to focus on any one of them is to miss the fact that we have no financial plan for our national future.  Either version of the Republican bill will add somewhere between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion to our budget deficits in ten years, and deficits will continue after that at a similar rate.  That borrowed money will be given to corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans in the form of tax cuts.  Every American will be obligated to repay the debt.

There’s no way to make a sensible budget from the revenue that will remain after the tax cuts.  Social Security is self-funded by employee and employer contributions.  It will remain totally self-sufficient through 2036.  It needs a bit more revenue or lower expenses to be solvent past that date but its problems seem minor.   The crisis is in the rest of the budget.

Republicans have pledged to increase spending or hold it steady for defense, Medicare, and Medicaid/Health programs.  Their tax bill does not produce enough non-social security revenue to pay for anything else after keeping those promises and paying interest on the national debt.   Yes, you read it right.  They have promised to spend all federal tax revenue on defense, Medicare, Medicaid/Health and interest expense.  Did they do the math before they made the promises?

The Republican plan cuts taxes so much that there is no sensible financial path forward, just a mountain of debt.  The light that they claim to see at the end of the tunnel is a train; and it’s headed our way.

TO DOWNLOAD CHART CLICK HERE

IF REPUBLICAN TAX PLAN HAD BEEN LAW IN 2016
REVENUE
BILLIONS SOURCE
2016 FEDERAL REVENUE $3300 CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
LESS SOCIAL SECURITY REVENUE ($958) SOCIAL SECURITY TRUSTEES REPORT
NON SOCIAL SECURITY REVENUE $2342
LESS TAX CUT ($100) MEDIAN OF ESTIMATES
FUTURE PROJECTED REVENUE $2242
SPENDING
MEDICARE $593  

DERIVED FROM PEW RESEARCH CENTER

CLICK LINK FOR SPECIFICS
MEDICAID/HEALTH $514
DEFENSE AND VA $790
INTEREST ON DEBT $237
SUBTOTAL $2134
PROPOSED DEFENSE INCREASE $116 ESTIMATE BASED ON SENATE PROPOSAL
SPENDING PROTECTED BY REPUBLICAN PROMISES $2250
ALL OTHER 2016 SPENDING $869
PROJECTED DEFICIT $877
All Posts, budget, Christianity, Congress, ethics, taxes

A SINFUL TAX LAW

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Today I began to understand why the proposed new tax law disturbs me so much.  Simply stated, it is sin enshrined in law and all of us are accountable for it.  I’ll use the bill recommended by the Senate Finance Committee to show you what I mean.  All of the other versions have similar effects.

Senate Bill effect on tax by income percentile c

The politicians and wealthy donors who support the bill will walk away with the money and leave the rest of America holding the new debt that pays for it – about $18,400 for a family of four – in just the first decade of the law.  The tax CUT for the wealthiest Americans will be bigger than the TOTAL INCOME of 80 percent of families.

Passing this bill while corporate profits, stock values and cash balances are at record highs and while middle class Americans are struggling to get by and while the poor can’t properly feed and educate their children…that seems sinful to me.

Sin has lots of definitions and I’ll take the liberty of using my own.  Sin is any conscious action which separates you from that which is good – your own understanding of  “God”, “Creation” or the rest of humanity.  Although we may have differing religious or spiritual beliefs, that understanding of sin seems consistent with all of them.

An important observation about sin – we’re aware that we’re doing something wrong, but we do it anyway.  That’s exactly where we’re headed with this tax law.  It will place an unjust burden of debt on poor and middle-class Americans to benefit the wealthiest among us.  How many of the bill’s supporters know in their consciences that it’s wrong, but will quietly allow it because their donors and political tribe expect that?  This bill is a conscious action that separates us from what is good – the very definition of sin.

As I pondered these troubling thoughts, I looked to values that I’ve known since childhood.  So have most readers.  And if we’ve thought at all deeply about those values we can see them reflected in all Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  If we expand our awareness to include Buddhist, Native American, other religions – even Atheist teachings, we find similar values and a similar concept of “sin”.  We know that it separates us from what is good and we do it anyway.  I’m going to quote some scripture, because this seems to be a time when we are in particular need that sort of wisdom.

Leviticus 23:22  “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger:  I am the Lord your God.”

In Matthew, Chapter 25:34-46 Jesus describes the Creator-King welcoming followers with these words, “…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”  …  “Truly, I say to you, that as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”  Then he proceeded to condemn those who did not help the least of their brethren.

There it is for all to see – what better example of sin than burdening our poorest citizens with debt in order to enrich the wealthiest?  Those who quietly consent to the passage of this law are complicit in the sin.

Mark 12:38-39 “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.  They will receive the greater condemnations.”

It is necessary to instruct our representatives.  “Don’t do this sinful thing in our names!”

 

All Posts, budget, economy, taxes

TAX REFORM FOR WORKING AMERICANS

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There are far better ideas for tax reform than the ones congress is considering.  I’m trying to spread the word about alternatives that really help working Americans.  If you agree please like, share, and send the ideas on to your representatives and senators.  There are sharing options at the bottom of the page.  You can download a PDF or photo version for sharing by clicking the links below.  The text follows.

TAX REFORM FOR WORKING AMERICANS pdf version

TAX REFORM FOR WORKING AMERICANS jpg photo version

TAX REFORM FOR WORKING AMERICANS

Here are tax reform ideas that will raise take-home pay, help low-income workers enter the middle class, and grow the US economy for all of us.  If you agree, please share it and “like” it on social media.  Also send it to your representatives and senators.

  1. Apply new tax revenue from ideas below to reducing the current rates of Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes. (That will result in increased take-home pay for everyone who is employed.)
  1. Create a national sales tax of about 1% on stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. (A carpenter who buys a new saw to earn income will pay a sales tax.  Doesn’t it seem fair that someone who buys stock to make money would also pay a tax?) 
  1. Create a national property tax of about 1% on accumulated wealth including real estate, personal property and financial assets in excess of $5 million for a household. Raise it to 2% above $20 million.   (The very wealthy could continue to grow their fortunes by making productive investments that earn more than the tax rate.)
  1. Apply all income and payroll tax rates used for wages to non-wage income including interest, dividends and appreciation of assets.  (Why is it right to tax income earned by labor at a higher rate than investment income?)
  1. Retain the estate tax which allows a family to pass on $11.8 million tax-free to heirs and applies a 40% tax rate on larger inheritances. (Why is it right that those working their way up the economic ladder have payroll taxes on every dollar they earn while the heirs of the wealthy start with billions of tax-free income?)

RATIONALE:  The US economy now features very high corporate profits and very high stock market values.  Many corporations have so much money that they are using it to buy back their own stock rather than investing in new productive capacity.  The economy needs increased demand for products and services to drive growth.  This tax plan puts more cash in the hands of those who work for wages and particularly benefits those with low and middle income jobs.  They will spend most of their increased take-home pay on products and services.  The increase in demand will create investment opportunities for the wealthy and for corporations.  Everybody wins.

CORPORATIONS:  There are rational arguments for reducing or even eliminating income taxes on corporations.  That can be done by attributing corporate profits or losses directly to shareholders annually and taxing them at their personal rate.  A separate rate could be established for offshore holders of stock in US corporations.

    CREATED BY:  Bob Morrison – bob@bobmorrison.org

 

All Posts, taxes

THE RIGHT QUESTIONS ABOUT TAXES

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SOLVING THE TAX REFORM PUZZLE
SOLVING THE TAX REFORM PUZZLE

This column explores questions about tax reform that congress has ignored.

The obvious purpose of taxes is to fund government operations that we have approved through our elected officials.  The alternative is borrowing.  Debt allows us to spend money now and delay taxation to a later date – like using a credit card to pay for something when you don’t have the cash.  Later, while you pay off the credit card, you will have less money to spend.

It’s important to understand what we tax today (federal, state and local taxes combined).  36 percent of revenue comes from individual income taxes (mostly federal and state).  Another 23 percent is payroll taxes, mostly designated for Social Security and Medicare.  Investment income is exempt from payroll taxes.  Next are corporate income taxes at 11 percent, property taxes at 10 percent, sales taxes at 8 percent and everything else at 12 percent.   CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

We generally do not tax accumulated wealth such as cash, stock, bonds, precious metals etc.  Our inheritance or estate tax applies only to amounts over $5.9 million from an individual or $11.8 million from a married couple.  We do not levy a sales tax on stocks, bonds, or other financial assets which are acquired as a source of future income.  We generally tax income from those financial assets at a lower rate than income earned from work.

Are our taxes too high? Believe it or not, our total tax burden is relatively low.  We collect 26 percent of our GDP through all forms of taxation.  The median among developed democracies is 34 percent.  Thirty nations had higher rates and four had lower rates.

Many Americans are alarmed about the decline of our middle class and the extreme difficulty of upward economic mobility.  Jobs are available but employee compensation hasn’t kept up with living costs.  This is occurring while corporate profits and the stock market set new records.  The wealthiest 0.1 percent of the American population now own as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent (which includes the entire middle class along with the poor).

Should we use tax policy to change those trends?  In his book, “Capital in the 21st Century”, Economist Thomas Piketty answers  “yes”.  He demonstrates that the rate of return on capital (accumulated wealth that is invested for profit) consistently exceeds the rate of total economic growth. That is the cause of concentration of wealth among the top 0.1 percent of the population.  To hear him explain his ideas in a TED talk, CLICK HERE

There are a number of ways to apply Piketty’s research to tax reform.  One idea is to begin charging a small excise (sales) tax on the purchase of stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.  It might be around 1 percent.  A carpenter who buys a new saw in order to earn income will pay a sales tax.  Doesn’t it seem fair that someone who buys stock in order to make money would also pay a tax?

Another idea is a tax on accumulated wealth above some preset dollar value.  Suppose that the combined value of real estate and financial assets exceeding $5 million for a family was subject to an annual tax of 1 or 2 percent.  That would generate a lot of revenue, particularly from families with net worth in the billions of dollars.  They could continue growing their fortunes by investing if they earned more than the tax rate of 1 or 2 percent.

A third idea is to tax non-work income (interest, dividends and appreciation of investments) at the same rate as wages.  Why is it right to tax income earned by labor at a higher rate than investment income?

A fourth idea is to retain the estate tax.  It allows a wealthy couple to pass on as much as $11.8 million to heirs tax-free.  That’s a very nice head-start in life for anyone.  Why is it right that those working their way up the economic ladder have payroll taxes on every dollar they earn while the children of the wealthy start with $11.8 million tax-free dollars?

If we apply the revenue generated from ideas like these to reducing payroll taxes, we can increase “take home” pay and we won’t need to reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits.  That would certainly help families on the way up with their economic climb.

None of these concepts are on the congressional tax reform agenda.  They should be explored and debated with ample public input before our tax laws are changed.

FURTHER READING:

NY Times coverage of wealth tax concept

Wikipedia wealth tax

SOURCES OF TAX REVENUE IN USA

Comparison of US taxes to other nations

US budget deficit history

All Posts, deficit, donald trump, taxes

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE – TAX FREE

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President Trump and Congressional leaders have promised Americans Christmas presents including lower taxes for everyone and raises for the working middle class averaging $4000 per year.  Even Santa can’t match that magic.

As I draft this column, the plan is that Republican leadership will propose a new tax law to the House Ways and Means Committee (whose job it is to draft tax laws) on November 1 with a request that they approve it in a matter of a few days.  It is being prepared in secret by two cabinet members and four politicians who are leaders in the House and Senate.  They’re all male, all white, and all Republican so we don’t need to worry.  They know what’s best and they’ll take care of us.

The goal of the bill’s authors is to get it passed before the end of 2017, allowing less than two months for committee hearings, expert analysis, and public opinion.   They say that they want to move quickly before lobbyists put on too much pressure for special interests.  Maybe they’re also concerned about having those pesky town hall meetings where noisy constituents ask hard questions.

The tax proposal is supposedly derived in large part from the House of Representatives GOP Tax Plan so we can look there for a preview.  It was evaluated meticulously by the Brookings Tax Policy Center.  They created a straightforward estimate of the bottom line change in taxes for Americans at all income levels.  Naturally some of us will fare a bit better than others.  You can check this chart to see how much help your family would get.  CLICK HERE for the entire Brookings report.

HOW HOUSE GOP TAX PLAN AFFECTS FAMILY INCOMES
Income Level Average tax saving/year
Lowest 20% -$50
Middle 20% -$260
Highest 20% -$11,760
Highest 1 % -$212,660
Highest 0.1% -$1,262,530
SOURCE:

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-house-gop-tax-plan/full

You may recall that our federal budget already runs a large annual deficit.  Republicans plan to borrow more money to make up for the tax cuts.  In order to get your tax savings, your share of the additional borrowing will be about $4600 per person plus annual interest at about 3 percent.  Republicans no longer  worry about debt since President Trump explained that if the economy goes bad, we can “make a deal” to cover the debt.  These guys are so smart about money that they know how to make debt disappear.  They’ll do what’s best for us.

President Trump says that the extremely rich people will invest their tax savings and that will create more jobs.  If there are more jobs then there will be more demand for workers so everyone’s wages will go up by an average of $4,000 per year.  Mr Trump said that we can be confident; it’s actually middle class and low-income people who will benefit most from this plan.  It’s so beautiful that it makes me want to sing along with Merle Haggard’s old song, “We’ll all be drinking that free Bubble-Up and eatin’ that rainbow stew.”

The new law would also make changes to corporate taxes; something that most knowledgeable people agree is needed. Isn’t it great to have such hard-working leaders applying the skills they learned at places like Goldman Sachs so that we don’t have to listen to experts or think for ourselves?  It’s especially considerate of our six great leaders to get all the work done so that the congressional committees that would otherwise need to carefully consider the law can be finished with it in time to enjoy the holidays with their families and friends.

Merry Christmas to all Americans from your congressional leadership – always doing the thinking for American families and protecting their interests.  In case you’d like to send them a “thank you” note, they are Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Finance chairman Orrin Hatch.

One parting thought – this is the time when Americans must decide whether we want to live our “wonderful lives” in Pottersville or Bedford Falls. (Many references are to the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” – as inspiring today as ever.)

ADDITIONAL READING:  https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/27/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-big-6-tax-plan-243205

 

All Posts, American Foreign Policy, budget, Congress, deficit, donald trump, medicaid, taxes

THE PRESIDENT OF CHAOS

The picture on my computer screen should be better so I tried adjusting it.  That made it worse so I’ll hit it with a sledgehammer and see if that helps.  Unfortunately, that foolish approach is being applied by President Trump to vital national interests like health care,  defense,  immigration, and budgets.

One of Trump’s competitors, Jeb Bush predicted the problem back in 2015 saying,  “Donald, you know, is great at the one-liners.  But he’s a chaos candidate.  And he’d be a chaos president.  He would not be the commander-in-chief we need to keep our country safe.”

Never a dull moment...
Never a dull moment…

President Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare with something better: “We’re going to have insurance for everybody…There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”…“I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid”.

As President, Trump never proposed a way to provide health care regardless of Americans’ ability to pay for it and he did support cutting Medicaid.  Obamacare has insured about 20 million Americans who had no benefits before the law passed; and at the same time it has slowed the growth of the nation’s healthcare spending.  It’s a success but it needs improvement.  When nothing that he or other Republicans proposed passed, Trump swung his sledgehammer at Obamacare’s most vulnerable spot, the individual markets.  He announced termination of the federal  subsidy to insurance companies for low-income subscribers.  That will damage the already fragile individual insurance markets in some communities – breaking our healthcare system without a plan to replace it.

Trump threatens to withdraw from our agreement with Iran, under which they shut down their nuclear weapons program and gave up 98 percent of their nuclear materials.  The agreement was designed with one goal in mind – don’t let Iran develop  nuclear weapons.  We managed to get Russia, all of Europe and China on the same page because they all agreed with that goal; and it was our combined power that made the deal possible.  Trump can’t persuade Iran to do other things that he wants so out comes the sledgehammer to break the Iran agreement.  If the deal falls apart and if China, Russia and Europe go their own ways, there will be nothing to restrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  By destroying the Iran deal without a plan to replace it Trump also tells other nations  that any President can ignore commitments made by his predecessors.  The USA will be seen as untrustworthy.

The DACA program for children brought to the US illegally is an imperfect solution to a problem that congress has been unwilling to address.  Trump promises to hit it with his sledgehammer – forcing law enforcement to round-up and deport children and young adults who have lived most of their lives as Americans.  Again, he has no plan for replacing what he will destroy.  Many young adults will be driven to hide in an underground economy where they have little opportunity for success.  That’s a breeding ground for dissension, hopelessness and crime.

Trump plans to hit your wallet with a sledgehammer too – by cutting taxes, mostly for the wealthy, while increasing military spending and  our national debt at even faster rates than his predecessors.  Americans will have to repay that debt at some future date.  Our ability to borrow money for a true catastrophe or war is already impaired because so much of our debt capacity has been used.  We currently owe $20 trillion.  That is about $62,000 for every American or $161,600 for every American who works at a full or part-time job.

Donald Trump again proposes the sledgehammer approach saying,  “I am the king of debt,”…”I love debt. I love playing with it.”  and “I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal”…”And if the economy was good, it was good. So therefore, you can’t lose.”  When he says “make a deal”, that means refusing to pay our debt, most of which is owed to Americans.  It’s not the same as letting one of his casinos go bankrupt.

If the Republican congress allows President Trump to deliver more sledgehammer blows to our nation, the resulting chaos will belong personally to Donald Trump and each legislator who supported him.  The GOP will own the chaos but the American people (including DACA kids) will pay a heavy price for it.

All Posts, civil rights, donald trump, justice, race

BEWARE OF NOISY BULLIES

Most of the time we Americans are not even aware of our freedom.  It surrounds us in seemingly endless supply, like the air that we breathe.   But if there’s no air to breathe we quickly become uncomfortable and do something about it.  If we see another person choking, we try to help him breathe.  Just as we defend our right to breathe, we should defend each other’s freedom.

Non-conformity is sometimes admirable, but it has consequences.  Others are free to disapprove, dislike, and not associate with you.  That’s their right.  Unless you are protected by a union or employment contract, most states allow private employers to fire you or refuse to hire you for expressing views that they don’t like.  There are circumstances where that makes sense.  An employer might have a policy that prohibits wearing lapel pins supporting political parties, candidates, or causes at work. Its purpose might be to keep everyone’s attention focused on producing good work rather than the distraction or offense to customers that might accompany the pins.

With those thoughts in mind, let’s look at the case of Colin Kaepernick, the NFL, and President Donald Trump.  The controversy began more than a year ago when Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, didn’t stand for the national anthem.  He had done the same thing before two previous games, but the press didn’t take notice.  On the third occasion, he was asked about it and he gave an extensive post-game interview.

Kaepernick made it clear that he believes America is not living up to our ideals.  He contended that racial inequality is still institutionalized and that abuse of African-Americans by police is often tolerated by our government.  He said he would resume standing for the anthem when those concerns were addressed.  He emphasized that he meant no insult to our flag, anthem or service members; pointing out instead that he wants our government practices to live up to the values that our military defends.

Colin Kaepernick acknowledged that he could be fired for his actions:  Q: “Do you think you might get cut for this?”  Kaepernick: “I don’t know. But if I do, I know I did what’s right and I can live with that at the end of the day.”  He was cut from the team, accepted that fact, and continued working on issues that he thought were important.  To at least some small degree, he was achieving his goal of encouraging conversations across racial lines about inequality.

The conversation exploded when President Trump, behaving as if he was elected Bully-in-Chief rather than President, insulted Kaepernick and other NFL players who had adopted his form of quiet protest, calling them “sons of bitches” and telling NFL owners to fire them or watch their businesses “go to hell”.   Trump lied when he claimed that the protests were against our military and our flag.  Kaepernick and other protesters had made it clear from the beginning that the protests were about perceived racial injustice. Trump ignored concerns about racial equality and changed the subject to patriotism.  When a President of the United States lies some of his loyal base will believe whatever he says.  Others in Trump’s party may simply stay quiet – exactly the kind of inaction that Kaepernick is protesting.

Our President has behaved as a shameless bully and liar, dividing us into factions and urging his supporters to impose their will on others through the power of government and employers.  It’s dangerous to our constitutional democracy when our President uses his power to try to silence others.  At the core of American freedoms is the right to be a nonconformist – to believe, speak, and live according to your own conscience.  Whether I agree with Colin Kaepernick or not, it is my duty as an American to defend his right to speak and to demand an apology from President Trump for his lies and his language.

The President’s actions bring this adage to mind. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”  We Americans need to move ahead with serious conversations about race relations.  It appears that we’ll have to do that in the face of presidential opposition rather than with constructive presidential leadership.  That, perhaps, is why so many NFL players and owners have linked arms – showing the way to honest conversation and teamwork – and standing up to the biggest bully on the block.

 

Read or view Colin Kaepernick interview HERE

All Posts, American Foreign Policy, war

GHOSTS OF WAR

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I don’t know whether to thank or curse Ken Burns and PBS for bringing back the ghosts of the Vietnam War – exhuming feelings and memories that I had buried deep in the past.

TO WATCH THE SERIES CLICK HERE

I can again see the ghost of Thích Quảng Đức, a Buddhist monk who doused himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze on a Saigon street in June, 1963.  He was protesting actions of the US-supported South Vietnamese government.  Although the nation was more than 70 percent Buddhist, French and American military had supported a Christian-dominated government that severely limited religious freedom and Buddhist participation in society.  His last words were, “Before closing my eyes and moving towards the vision of the Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngô Đình Diệm to take a mind of compassion towards the people of the nation and implement religious equality to maintain the strength of the homeland eternally. I call the venerables, reverends, members of the sangha and the lay Buddhists to organize in solidarity to make sacrifices to protect Buddhism.”

When it became apparent that the Buddhist majority would oppose the government, the US supported a coup by the South Vietnamese military and ramped up the American troop presence to fight against a North Vietnamese government spawned from resistance to French colonialism. Simply stated, we took a side in a Vietnamese civil war. The Soviet Union and China took the other side.

An American Quaker pacifist, Norman Morrison (no relation that I know of) became my second ghost.  He poured kerosene over himself and lit his fire under the office window of Robert McNamara, the US Secretary of defense.  At least half a dozen other Americans and far more Vietnamese committed similar self-sacrifices to protest the war.

Those ghosts urged me to abandon the blind trust of American foreign policy and wars that was taught in our public school history books.  If we were on the side of freedom, justice and fairness, why would people commit such horrific suicides to bring attention to the actions of the South Vietnamese government that we enabled?

The war soon became personal. By the time I finished high school in 1965 I knew that boys who graduated one or two years ahead of me had already died in Vietnam.  I got a draft deferment because I went to college. Then came the lottery.  I drew #51 – sure to be drafted for a war that I did not believe in – to invade a nation of people who had done me no harm and try to kill them before they killed me.  I didn’t want to go but didn’t want to go to Canada or dodge the draft some other way…what to do???  In 1969 I went for my draft physical and flunked it because I was a few pounds underweight – 6’1″ and 123 pounds. I’m still not convinced that their scale was right but didn’t argue.  48 years have gone by since that physical exam and I still wonder what I would have done if I’d passed.

Today, I am haunted by the ghosts of those who gave their lives serving in our armed forces, and those who died fighting on the other side.  They are joined by ghosts of American college students killed by American soldiers during an anti-war protest at Kent State University. The government of Vietnam estimates that two million of the ghosts were civilians whose lives were lost in the no man’s land of war.

We don’t see many protests against today’s sanitized wars.  Precision munitions, guided from safe locations, assure that most of the death and suffering is among foreigners.  The men and women (some barely older than boys and girls) who fight our wars are volunteers.  They don’t complain much.   Can they trust the rest of us to send them to war only in support of self-defense, freedom, justice and fairness?

I hope that others will also watch the PBS documentary and apply whatever lessons you find to 21st century America.  Those who are as old as me are likely to find some ghosts of your own – including friends and family who died in the war.  We have enough of them.  We do not need more ghosts.