A Message To Our Detractors

When you choose to air your social and political beliefs in a public forum you can expect to be criticized.  Fair enough!  It comes with the territory.  We are more than willing to engage in a substantive debate on the merits of our views regardless of the subject. 

Unfortunately most of the criticism that we receive is without substance or merit.  It goes simply like this: “We live in the greatest country in the world.  If you hate this country so much than why don’t you just leave?”  (Editor’s Note:  France is the destination most often suggested by our detractors.)  Comments like this make it difficult for us to respond in any substantive manner.  After all what do you say to someone who simply says “leave” without providing the basis for their disagreement? 

Normally we just ignore these comments.  But today we thought we’d make an effort to respond.  So to all of you who wish we would just stop our bitching and move to the land of the croissant; we ask that you consider the following:

First of all you should know that our comments are not made out of some socialist, Marxist hatred for our country but rather a patriotic frustration over how badly our society has regressed over the past several decades.  It is a frustration over what we could and should be.  Here are some of the reasons for our negative commentary…all based on facts not political ideology.

If we are indeed the richest, most powerful, most exceptional “greatest” country in the world as our detractors so passionately exclaim, then…

Why are one in five of our children living in poverty?  22%!  According to the last census 16,401,000 US children live in poverty.  That’s beyond shameful!

Why do 15.1% of all persons in this country live below the poverty line?  That 15.1% is the highest poverty rate since 1993.  And in case you are interested, the “poverty line bar” is pretty damn low.  You are considered to be living in poverty if you are a single person earning less than $11,344/year; a single parent with one child earning less than $15,030/year; or a family of four earning less than $22,113/year.  Can you imagine…families of four living on $22,113 plus $1 are no longer considered living in poverty!  What family of four can live on $22,113?  The fact that it is happening in the “greatest country in the world” defies belief.

But we digress.

If this is the greatest country in the world then…

Why are 50.7 million of our citizens living without access to affordable health care?  That’s 16.7% of our population that are on the precipice of financial ruin should they contract a debilitating disease.  The Unites States is the only modernized country in the world that allows this to occur.  All the rest provide health care for all of their citizens.  We understand that half of the country is not interested in providing health care for everyone.  We think that is a mistake.  Why?  Mortality!  Read on...

Why does the US rank only 38^th in life expectancy and 49^th in infant mortality?  The answer to a great extent is because 50.7 million US citizens don’t have access to affordable health care.

Why are we failing to provide our children with the best education in the world?  According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development…an independent think tank that ranks the quality of education among developed countries…our children rank 14th in reading; 17^th in science and 25^th in mathematics.  Regardless of your ideology you should find these results embarrassingly unacceptable.

Why is our infrastructure is in such bad shape that it is referred to as “increasingly third world” by the rest of the planet? According to the World Economic Forum of Global Competitiveness our infrastructure ranks 23^rd in the world…right behind Malaysia and Barbados.  Don’t believe these statistics…take trip to any other industrialized/modernized country and check out their high speed rail, modern airports and broadband capabilities. Then return home and tell us you don’t feel like you have returned to the 1950’s.

Given our crumbling and antiquated infrastructure, why is unemployment at 8.2% and underemployment at 14.9%?  These numbers are even more disconcerting when you realize that 41.9% of those individuals have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.

Why do we allow the best and the brightest kids from foreign countries to enroll in our universities only to ship them right back home once they graduate?  Why don’t we encourage them to stay and use that education to develop new products and services right here in the US?

Why don’t we have comprehensive immigration reform?  This country was founded by immigrants.  It was the meshing of different cultures and the freedom to express their cultural differences that brought about the entrepreneurial spirit that made our country great.  Now we shun those who come from different cultures.  We marginalize their cultural differences instead of embracing them as a continuation of our heritage.

Why are we willing to give billions in tax breaks and incentives to multi-billion dollar corporations but unwilling to give home heating oil assistance to our poor and elderly.

Why do we allow our elected leaders to return to Washington for multiple terms when their ineffective time in office produces nothing but years of partisan gridlock?

And why have we become so ensconced in our own little “me first” bubble that the vast majority of us doesn’t give a damn about any of the above.

If our detractors still think that all of this is just hate speech then we would suggest they consider a far more knowledgeable source on the state of our union than we could ever hope to be.  The American people.

Former NBC NEWS anchor Tom Brokaw spends his days traveling the country and talking to average Americans about their views of our nation.  He stated as recently as this morning that no matter what part of the country he is in he hears the same two concerns repeated over and over again: 1.)  They do not believe that their children will grow up to have as good a life as they do. 2.) That maybe America is no longer the greatest country in the world.

This space is devoted to creating a dialogue that will serve to return this country to the great nation that it once was.  We have no doubt that we can get there.  But in order for that to happen we must face our failings and have an honest and substantive debate on how to correct them.  Only then will we return this country to its greatness.  While this task will undoubtedly be difficult it is a task that we must undertake; if not for ourselves then for the generations that follow.          

      

             

Making The Case For National Service

The president is expected to call for a one year extension of the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 per year.  The proposal would freeze tax rates at current levels for the middle class while raising taxes on the richest Americans.  The president’s rationale is that raising taxes on a struggling middle class during difficult economic times would only serve to further weaken a failing economy while the wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the most from a free society, should pay a little more.

The president’s is well aware that his proposal has no chance of passing through the Republican controlled House or avoiding a Republican filibuster in the Senate.  His offering is merely a political ploy to force Republicans to go on record voting against tax cuts for the middle class while extending tax cuts for the wealthy.  Were he serious, the president would have proposed comprehensive tax reform as a  stimulus while attaching entitlement reform as a long term debt/deficit solution.  But that is material for another blog.

The president’s proposal is just another example of what we see as a sickness that is permeating our society…a divisiveness that sets one American against another…in this case pitting the halves against the have not’s.  We have become a society so focused on “I” that the “we” that once made America great has all but disappeared.  And the diversity that once made us the envy of the world is the same diversity that we now try to expunge.

It seems that we have become a society of individuals who are all looking for the VIP line.  So important are “I”, “Me” and “my pursuit of happiness” that nothing else seems to matter.  So immersed are we in our own little self absorbed bubble that we have little knowledge of what is going on in the rest of the world.  We have no sense of history…no sense of what generations before us sacrificed so that we could have what we have.   We have taken the simply fortuitous fact that we left the birth canal within US borders and turned it into a sense of entitlement that is palpable.  “I am an American…therefore I am special.”  We have lost the essence of what being “American” really means.

Individualism, civil rights, competition and achieving success are all integral parts of what make this country great.  But when those ideals are achieved at the expense of others we become a society without heart and without compassion.

Look at the ever widening gap between the top 1% and the rest of our society.  Should we vilify and demonize those who have been successful.  No!  But once upon a time it was possible for everyone in our society to achieve the success of the 1%.  Study upon study show that is no longer the case.  Today if you are born to wealth you are likely to remain wealthy.  And if you are born in poverty you are likely to remain poor.  The opportunities for upward mobility in the US lag way behind most industrialized countries.  That is because the success of the haves is often at the expense of the have not’s.

Health care is another example.  Whether you love Obamacare or hate it you have to give the President credit for trying to make affordable health care available to all Americans.  His opponents say that they will repeal the bill at the first opportunity.  But they have no solution for the almost 50 million Americans who cannot afford insurance.  And to be perfectly blunt about it…they don’t care.  “I have mine…go get your own.”  That attitude only serves to widen an already burgeoning societal gap.

And look at our politics.  So caught up are we in out ideological bubble that the idea that the other party or even another country might have a better solution to our problems is unthinkable.  Compromise is a dirty word. Elected officials who are seen reaching across the aisle to find solutions are ticketed for replacement come election time.  Votes are scored and officials who dare to cross party lines won’t be voting for very long.

We have become a divide country, fueled by individualism and a rigid ideological view of the world that threatens the very bond that once made us great.

So how do we fix it? 

We fix it by implementing a policy that we and many others far more insightful have written about before.

We fix it by implementing a policy of national service.

We believe that every citizen upon graduating high school or reaching the age of 18 should be required to spend two years giving back to the country.  It could be enlisting in the military, serving in the Peace Corp or working as a teacher’s aide in an inner city school.  There are many opportunities that could satisfy this two year requirement.  After giving two years to the country the individual could go to college, pick up a trade or enter into a vocation having the benefit of two years of practical experience in the real world.  These two years would help our youth to understand what being a part of this country is all about.  The individual and the country would be all the better for the experience.

Would it work?  It does in Israel. 

Israeli youth are required to enter into the military upon graduating high school.  Boys enlist for three years; girls for two.  Upon completion of their service requirement they enter college as mature adults with a much better understanding of who they are and what they want to do with their lives.  In a survey of American CEOs, respondents said that Israeli college graduates are more focused, more mature and ultimately more capable of meeting the demands of the business world than their American counterparts.

And why wouldn’t they be.  While our kids are playing video games, partying and struggling with what they want to be when they grow up the Israeli kids are building hospitals and water treatment plants, negotiating with village elders, learning about responsibility and laws and teamwork.  The Israeli kids come through this experience with a sense of self and an appreciation and understanding of their country that our kids cannot fathom.  The Israeli kids are better for the experience and their country is too.

Now Israel’s requirement that their high school graduates enter the military stems from the fact that they are surrounded by enemies who would like to see their country wiped off the face of the earth.  Fortunately we do not face that reality; so we could find other non-military ways that our youth could serve their country and better themselves in the process.  In the end we would be building generations who understand that being an American is more than a birthright.  It is a responsibility that includes helping the least advantaged to achieve a better life.  Being an American means being compassionate and open minded as well as competitive and resourceful.  We believe that a policy of national service will help to sew those seeds and return our country to greatness and prosperity…for everyone.

So that is our challenge to this president or whoever is next to reside in the Oval Office.  Develop a policy of national service.  Develop a policy that will help all young Americans to get a true appreciation of what being American is all about.  Challenge the country to build future generations that rival the Greatest Generation in terms of sacrifice, courage and compassion…

…and secure your legacy in the process.             

                         

A Case Study On Federal Taxes

The Supreme Court’s determination that the mandate under the Affordable Health Care Act is in fact a “tax” has rekindled the debate over our tax code. And whether you are a multi-millionaire or an unskilled laborer making minimum wage you share one common belief…that we pay the federal government waaaaaaayyyy too much in tax. 

Like most Americans we felt the same way.  Like most Americans we were uncertain as to the marginal tax bracket we were in, and we didn’t know what our effective tax rate was…i.e. ultimate percentage we paid in taxes after all the legal deductions were factored in. 

So we decided to take a look. 

Keep in mind that we are only talking about federal income taxes…the taxes your accountant computes and files under Form 1040.  This is the number that conservatives find appalling…a threat to our liberty…and the funding mechanism for Obama’s socialist ideology.  This is the number Republicans have vowed never, ever to raise, even if it means defaulting on our financial obligations.

Before we get into the taxes, you need a little background to put things into perspective.

We are typical empty nesters.  We enjoy a modest middle class income.  We live in the suburbs of a Midwestern city with a population of 300,000.  We enjoy a modest middle class income, take a couple weeks vacation each year and have a positive balance in our savings account.  We live in a quiet condominium development were units similar to ours have recently sold for 180,000 to 210,000.  Our taxes are not prepared by some high priced downtown accounting firm but by the local H&R Block office; who charges less than $300 to organize the taxable responsibilities of our vast estate.  In other words we are a middle class America as you can get.

We reviewed our tax returns for the last three years.  Our accountant first deducted all the permissible pre-tax deductions for our retirement and health insurance.  Then they deducted our standard exemption, mortgage interest, charitable contributions as well as the proper allowances for property taxes and other taxes we had previously paid.  Pretty straight forward!

Bottom line…for the past three years we paid our federal taxes at an average rate of 10.33%.  After all the legal deductions were factored in we paid the federal government 10 cents for every dollar we earned.

So what did we get for our 10 cents?

We are protected by the best trained most technologically advanced military in the world thanks to the Department of Defense.  The air we breathe and the water we drink is clean thanks to the EPA.  When we go to the grocery we can choose from thousands of items and know that they are all safe for consumption thanks to the FDA.  Our two sons fly constantly on business.  The airplanes they fly and the skies they circumvent are all kept safe by the FAA.  The money in our checking and savings accounts is secure thanks to the FDIC.  Many of our nieces and nephews receive a “free” education thanks in part to the Department of Education.  When vacationing we travel across interstates funded by the Department of Transportation.  Our travels are made easier because of a consistent system of laws regulated by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice.   And we are able to enjoy these benefits because thanks to Medicare our finances were not decimated by the tsunami of medical expenses incurred by our now departed mother.  We get a lot more for our 10 cents, but you get the picture.

Yes, we do pay a lot more than federal income tax for the privilege of living in this country.  Sales tax, gas tax, property tax, state and local taxes and plethora of additional taxes and fees reduce our take home pay.  But our focus here is on federal income tax, which Republicans are loathe to pay and feverish to reduce.  But if they succeed in lowering federal taxes, we can promise you that each of these other taxes will be increased to make up the difference.  Because the freedoms and benefits of living in this country are not free; they come with a price tag. 

Republicans are constantly whining about how big government and outrageously excessive federal income taxes are turning us into a socialist country. Frankly, that's BS.  First of all, nobody pays the published tax rates.  By the time you factor in even the most modest of deductions your tax burden is cut in half.  Second, let’s stop the nonsense about these excessive taxes turning us into some sort of socialist country.  We ARE a socialist country and have been for quite some time.  And 99.9% of Americans, including conservatives, not only use the “socialist” programs funded by the federal government; they will stage an armed revolt if you try to take those programs away.

The problem with federal taxes is not the amount of taxes paid but in the fairness by which the code is administered and the way the money is spent.  Our focus should be on the fairness and the disbursement and not on ridiculous claims about how high taxes are hurting the country. 

Because from our personal prospective, paying 10.33% cents on the dollar to live in this country is a bargain.        

 

        

 

       

       

This & That!

HOUSTON…WE HAVE A PROBLEM!  The Romney Death Star has a problem.  The campaign has been taking a lot of shots lately from those who feel the governor has been long on rhetoric and short on substance.  The problem lies in the fact that those firing the shots are not just liberal supporters of the President but heavyweight conservatives as well.  William Kristol, Rupert Murdock, Jack Welsh the Wall Street Journal and a host of other conservative stalwarts want more from Romney.

For years the Romney campaign machine has been living off of a simple message: ‘The economy sucks.  It’s Obama’s fault.  Vote for me.”  But conservatives are realizing that this message is not playing well with voters who want to know specifically what Romney is going to do to fix the country’s problems.  Voters want specifics…and leading conservatives want Romney to provide those specifics.

The problem is Romney doesn’t do well with specifics.  You can see him bristle whenever a reporter has the audacity to push him on an issue.  But who can blame Romney for being wary.  Every time he takes a specific stand on an issue he gets it wrong.  The auto bailout, the bank bailout, the foreclosure crisis, the stimulus, finding bin Laden, sending troops into Libya…each time he came out forcefully on an issue he ended up on the wrong side of success. 

SURPRISE…PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES GET ASKED ABOUT THEIR FINANCES!  Mitt Romney has been campaigning for president for the better part of a decade.  So you would think that the Romney campaign would be ready to answer questions about the candidates’ financial holdings.  Not so much.  The campaign is struggling once again to answer reports of newly discovered offshore holdings totaling in the millions.  We have to wonder why someone running for president would not have either made the pre-emptive decision to move the funds back on shore or at the very least offered full disclosure into the details of the accounts.  But once again Romney bristles when pressed for details.  It is as if he is not used to explaining himself.  Note to Romney…get used to it.  If you win it only gets worse.

SHAME ON THE LIBERAL MAIN STREAM MEDIA…for giving Romney hell about taking a weeks’ vacation with his family.  Particularly distasteful were the cheap comments regarding photos of Romney riding a jet ski with his wife, Ann.  Running for President is a tough, grueling job; even more so when you have been running for the better part of a decade.  Give the guy a break!  We suspect that many of the crass remarks were made out of jealousy that the 65 year old Romney can parade around in a bathing suit without embarrassing himself.  Most of the Pillsbury doughboy media do not share that luxury.                    

Always Listen To Mitch McConnell

Those of us who spend our lives following politics are always looking for a “tell.” We are always trying to find that one honest piece of information that will tell us which way the political winds are really blowing.  Politicians being the chameleons that they are, make this a difficult task at best.  So it is a really big deal when someone uncovers a way to predict in some fashion ebbs and flows of our political discourse.

Just a few days ago Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein provided us with the key to predicting the path of our politics.  So simplistic was Klein’s approach that we thought we would pass this little nugget on to those of you that follow this blog. 

According to Klein, the most accurate way to predict the direction of our politics is…to listen to what Mitch McConnell says. 

That’s it! 

That’s it?

That is it!

You all know Mitch McConnell…right?  Kind of frumpy…plastered down hair…wears those little Himmler glasses…pasty complexion…jowly.  He serves as the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate.  According to Klein, McConnell has been quite transparent in telling us the direction our politics will trend over the foreseeable future.

For example, in 2010 when voters swept Republicans into control of the Congress, you would have expected the victors to be preaching freedom, liberty, bi-partisanship, co-operation, compromise, working together to get things done for the American people…blah…blah…blah.  Not McConnell.  He said that the Republicans’ “number one priority was to make President Obama a one term president.”  Then he and his fellow Republicans spent the next 18 months blocking every initiative the president put before Congress.

A few months ago McConnell announced that the Senate would not be approving any further presidential appointments until after the election.  Later, he told reporters not to expect any major legislation to be passed until after the election.  Check the records and you will find that McConnell has been true to his word.

As recently as this past weekend he was pressed three times by a FOXNEWS reporter as to what he would say to the 30 million Americans who would be left without health care if McConnell made good on his promise to repeal Obamacare.  Every other Republican, when asked the same question said that they had an alternative plan…but refused to go into specifics.  Not McConnell.  “That (providing coverage for 30 million uninsured) is NOT the issue.  We are not going to turn the greatest health care system in the world into a European socialist system.”  Leave it to McConnell to tell the uncomfortable truth…covering the uninsured is NOT the Republican goal.  Repealing Obamacare is.  Republicans have no alternative plan and have no interest in universal health care.  McConnell was the only one willing to tell the truth.

So if you really want to know what’s going on in American politics…we suggest you take Ezra Klein’s advise when he says:

“I always listen to what Mitch McConnell says.”

            

   

Republicans Keeping Their Eyes On The Goal

The ridiculous partisan food fight over the Supreme Court’s affirmative ruling on “Obamacare” continues to dominate the political landscape.  Yesterday Republican leaders Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and Ryan reiterated their displeasure over the court’s ruling and promised to repeal the law in its entirety.  Each parroted the Republican Party’s latest talking points saying: “We need to repeal this law and start over with a patient centered approach.”  When pressed for the details of their “patient centered approach” they offered nothing.  In fact Republicans appear more concerned about repealing the law than helping Americans acquire the access they need.  Fox News asked McConnell if he were successful in repealing the law what he would say to the 30 million people who cannot afford health insurance.  “That’s not the issue” McConnell said.  “We are not going to turn this into a European socialist health care system.”

We have stated previously that we do not believe that Republicans have any interest in following a path that would lead to health care coverage for all Americans.  Their political history is void of any attempt to fix our health care problems.  Even in the years when they controlled both the White House and the Congress they remained silent.  Today they are obsessed with repealing the law but offer no alternative solution to the problem.  As public servants who are suppose to be working for the good of the people; their behavior is inexcusable.  The Affordable Care Act is law.  It has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.  Congress should be working on ways to implement the law and improve it…not “rip it out at the roots” as Boehner has suggested.

This law will be modified.  And there are thoughtful conservative alternatives out there that deserve consideration.  In today’s New York Times David Brooks cites the details of an alternative outlined in a “National Affairs” essay authored by James C. Capretta and Robert E. Moffit.  While we do not agree with some of their analysis and conclusions, they present aspects that could achieve bi-partisan support.  At least they bring an alternative to the conversation.  And as Brooks points out: “Democracy is a contest between alternatives.”

While Republicans are wasting time fighting over Obamacare they are failing to work on the number one issue in the eyes of most Americans…jobs.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the economic slowdown has finally caught up with American manufacturers.  WSJ is reporting that the US factory sector shrank for the first time since July of 2009 and that exports and new orders dropped at their fastest pace since October of 2001.

But creating jobs for Americans is not goal #1 for Republicans.  “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one term president.” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; October 24, 2110.  That is the goal.  Obfuscation, obstruction, filibuster and repeal are the tools.

McConnell has made it clear that they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal; even if they destroy millions of American families in the process.

                 

   

GOP Not Interested In Affordable Health Care For Everyone

The Supreme Court decision to affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Health Care Act is clearly a big win for the President.  But the win will come with a political price. The declaration by the court that the despised mandate is a “tax” will only serve to galvanize the President’s opponents.  Speaker Boehner and Majority Whip Cantor have already announced that they will bring a vote to repeal the law onto the House floor as early as next week.  Mitt Romney has made it clear that if elected, repealing the law is one of the one million things he will do on what promises to be the longest first day in office in our history.  

Here is where the Republicans have a problem.  They don’t have an alternative solution.  Time and time again Republican leaders go on talk shows and blast “Obamacare” as socialized medicine and another example of government over reach.  But when pressed for their solution to the rising cost of health care, they respond with a jumble of vague generalizations.  The best they can do is say that they will allow insurance companies to sell across state lines.  This they argue that will increase competition and therefore lower premiums.  The problem here is that insurance companies can already sell across state lines.  All they have to do is agree to follow the laws established by the individual states in which they choose to market their products.  But many state laws are so restrictive that most insurance companies do not feel they can go there and make money. So the insurance companies stay away leaving local citizens with too few choices and no competition to drive down premiums. 

It is true that when asked, a majority of Americans say they do not like “Obamacare.”  But when asked about specifics like” free preventative care, no lifetime limits on coverage, no cancellations for pre-existing conditions, the ability for kids under 26 to stay on their parents’ policy until they can find a job with benefits, the ability to keep your coverage even if you lose your job…an overwhelming majority of people approve.

It is true that most people do not like the idea of a government mandate.  Calling it a tax makes the concept even that much more reviled.  But when you explain that 1% of the population can afford to buy health insurance but chooses not to; preferring to save their money and pass the cost of their emergency room visits onto the rest of us…you get folks’ attention.  And when you explain that the mandate/tax is simply a vehicle to force these freeloaders to pay for their own health care instead of expecting the rest of us to pay it for them…the naysayers suddenly see the light.     

It is also true that a majority of the people do not want the government to re-litigate an issue that has not only been debated for three years but has been affirmed by the highest court in the land.  They rightly feel that Congress should be focusing on other issues…like jobs.

But none of this will deter Republicans from doing their best to repeal the law in its entirety.

One would think that if conservatives wanted to rid themselves of “Obamacare” they would present a clearly defined, detailed solution to the country’s health care needs.  But they won’t. 

They won’t because the truth of the matter is that Republicans really don’t care about making affordable healthcare available to everyone.  To them healthcare is nothing more than a cumbersome millstone hanging around the neck of their bottom line profits; and the Affordable Health Care Act only adds more weight to that millstone.   

The Republican goal is to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.  They are tilting at windmills.  But if they should somehow succeed…don’t waste your time looking for them to present an alternative.