Yesterday in the news two Midwestern politicians declared emphatically, "We're broke!" Minnesota Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, both argued their case for drastic measures to cut state government expenditures. In this angry political winter, apparently "any lie will do" as loud voices shout their talking points. Cut spending! Keep yuour money! Low taxes mean more jobs!
We are a prosperous nation. Wealthy beyond anything previously known on earth. But we also are becoming selfish and insensitive to anyone in need. Unwilling to suggest any shared sacrifice or fairness, when it comes to recognizing human obligations. We are far from broke.
From municipality to township to county, state, and nation - all across America - there is enough wealth within our borders to provide decent support for the most vulnerable among us. Shame on the hypocrites who try to persuade us otherwise!
Governor Dayton has addressed Minnesota's deficit with a balanced and fair budget - with spending reductions and revenue increases. Republicans dogmatically reject any revenue increase from the individual income tax and insist that only spending cuts to education, health and human services must cover the billions of dollars in deficits and overdue deficiency payments, that have accumulated over years to reach a crisis.
Governor Walker across the border in Wisconsin has declared war on the bargaining rights of his public employees - in the name of eliminating a budget deficit about half the size of Minnesota's. With conservatives in control of the executive and legislative branches of Wisconsin government, Walker hopes to roll back the legacy of progressive labor rights and achieve a balanced budget by cutting the take-home pay and pensions of state workers.
Time was when we aspired to be a "Great Society." The threat in our state capitols today is the drift toward a "Selfish Society."
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
MINI-BLOG: 2011 BUDGET BATTLES
The "Social Media" - Twitter, Facebook, et al, is on every news person's lips and fingertips. OMG, WTF,... literary scholars are shocked, shocked that language changes. So must a Blog (Website-Log) from time to time. A limit of 140 characters won't do. My newspaper won't publish over 300 words. (That's Brainerd, not Aitkin)
And a posting on Facebook of more than three or four lines is... BORING! Without a digital photo.
So, on to the Federal Budget, the Minnesota Budget, and the Voter.
The USA pays a slender amount of taxes - local, state, and federal - in comparison to all other industrialized nations. The State of Minnesota - in the last 12 years - has fallen into the middle of the pack in its spending, compared with the other 49 states. We are nowhere near becoming a Cold Mississippi or another Nebraska, but we are moving in that direction
The BIG items in Washington are War (now known as "Defense'), Medical Care for the Over-65, Disabled, and Poor, Social-funded Pensions (Security), and Transportation (air, highway, rail, and space).
The Major State expenditures are Public Schools and Colleges, Human Services (nursing homes, women and child support payments, hospitals), Roads and Bridges, Prisons, Conservation and Parks.
We are the most prosperous people in history! But for several decades we have squandered our largess. The wealthiest have snatched the gains of our rising productivity and invention. Working people and ordinary folks have lost ground - seen an actual flattening of their incomes.
War spending and tax breaks for the upper class have robbed most of us.
Let's be clear. One Trillion Dollars a year - for a decade - has bought us little Defense, a lot of regret, and an enormous loss of opportunity to become a more perfect society.
So in Washington, in the "Defense Department" - let's cut the numbers of aircraft carriers, strategic bombers, tanks and artillery. We won't fight any more 20th Century wars in which all of these weapons were so necessary.
In Minnesota - let's give Gov. Dayton one more individual income tax bracket, so that the wealthiest Minnesotans can pay a fairer share of their wealth towards the public good.
What about these wealthy Minnesotans who may decide to move away and take their businesses with them when their state taxes rise a little? Looking for a poorer state where they can "keep more of what is theirs?"
Well, they are not the ones I want as my neighbors. OMG that's 402 words!
And a posting on Facebook of more than three or four lines is... BORING! Without a digital photo.
So, on to the Federal Budget, the Minnesota Budget, and the Voter.
The USA pays a slender amount of taxes - local, state, and federal - in comparison to all other industrialized nations. The State of Minnesota - in the last 12 years - has fallen into the middle of the pack in its spending, compared with the other 49 states. We are nowhere near becoming a Cold Mississippi or another Nebraska, but we are moving in that direction
The BIG items in Washington are War (now known as "Defense'), Medical Care for the Over-65, Disabled, and Poor, Social-funded Pensions (Security), and Transportation (air, highway, rail, and space).
The Major State expenditures are Public Schools and Colleges, Human Services (nursing homes, women and child support payments, hospitals), Roads and Bridges, Prisons, Conservation and Parks.
We are the most prosperous people in history! But for several decades we have squandered our largess. The wealthiest have snatched the gains of our rising productivity and invention. Working people and ordinary folks have lost ground - seen an actual flattening of their incomes.
War spending and tax breaks for the upper class have robbed most of us.
Let's be clear. One Trillion Dollars a year - for a decade - has bought us little Defense, a lot of regret, and an enormous loss of opportunity to become a more perfect society.
So in Washington, in the "Defense Department" - let's cut the numbers of aircraft carriers, strategic bombers, tanks and artillery. We won't fight any more 20th Century wars in which all of these weapons were so necessary.
In Minnesota - let's give Gov. Dayton one more individual income tax bracket, so that the wealthiest Minnesotans can pay a fairer share of their wealth towards the public good.
What about these wealthy Minnesotans who may decide to move away and take their businesses with them when their state taxes rise a little? Looking for a poorer state where they can "keep more of what is theirs?"
Well, they are not the ones I want as my neighbors. OMG that's 402 words!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
RECOVERY? HARDLY
The Great Recession of 2007 is not over. Far from it.
Today's "News" from the Labor Department reported a surprising drop to 9 percent in the percentage of workers actively looking for work. That's one way of reporting how many in the work force are unemployed. Political pundits are feeding on this report. The sudden drop over the last two months was from 9.8 percent. Manufacturing jobs are now increasing. What about the pay scales of newly-hired workers? Overall, fewer new jobs were created than are needed to keep up with the population entering the workforce.
This writer has been there - in 1970 and 1982. I never filed and took unemployment pay, so I went unreported. Writing about these gaps in my resume took some creative skill. Just like the fictitious reasons top executives give when they "resign" their positions. In news accounts these missing workers (without jobs) are termed "discouraged." They know that after trying for six months, one year, or longer, there just aren't any decent opportunities in their line of work. They will have to face relocation, retraining, or early retirement. They already carry the humiliation of failing to succeed, failing to hold on, and the loss of their dream.
Did you leave to "spend more time with your family?" Or to "manage your personal investments? Truth is, "You were fired!" Terminated. Down-sized. Let go. So now the work force is "leaner" and more productive than ever. Profits are up. Costs are down. But consumer demand depends on cash, bank deposits, and credit.
Welcome to 21st Century America! The era of tax cuts and unemployment. Yet sales taxes have never been higher. Property valuations have fallen, but property taxes are rising. It's all about the Middle Class. Millions are sliding into poverty where many already reside. Recovery? Hardly.
Today's "News" from the Labor Department reported a surprising drop to 9 percent in the percentage of workers actively looking for work. That's one way of reporting how many in the work force are unemployed. Political pundits are feeding on this report. The sudden drop over the last two months was from 9.8 percent. Manufacturing jobs are now increasing. What about the pay scales of newly-hired workers? Overall, fewer new jobs were created than are needed to keep up with the population entering the workforce.
This writer has been there - in 1970 and 1982. I never filed and took unemployment pay, so I went unreported. Writing about these gaps in my resume took some creative skill. Just like the fictitious reasons top executives give when they "resign" their positions. In news accounts these missing workers (without jobs) are termed "discouraged." They know that after trying for six months, one year, or longer, there just aren't any decent opportunities in their line of work. They will have to face relocation, retraining, or early retirement. They already carry the humiliation of failing to succeed, failing to hold on, and the loss of their dream.
Did you leave to "spend more time with your family?" Or to "manage your personal investments? Truth is, "You were fired!" Terminated. Down-sized. Let go. So now the work force is "leaner" and more productive than ever. Profits are up. Costs are down. But consumer demand depends on cash, bank deposits, and credit.
Welcome to 21st Century America! The era of tax cuts and unemployment. Yet sales taxes have never been higher. Property valuations have fallen, but property taxes are rising. It's all about the Middle Class. Millions are sliding into poverty where many already reside. Recovery? Hardly.
Friday, January 28, 2011
WE USED TO DO "BIG THINGS"
This week I sat down by my TV and watched two shows. The first was PBS' "The American Experience: The Panama Canal." The second was "The State of the Union: January 25th, 2011."
In 1957 aboard the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) I transited the Panama Canal en route to Panama City, Panama, and Valparaiso, Chile, as a trainee on Midshipman Cruise Baker. Just three years later I would transit the Suez Canal aboard the USS Essex (CVS-9) en route to Aden and Karachi, Pakistan, as a Navy pilot headed for a naval exercise in the Indian Ocean with units of CENTO, the Central Treaty Organization (known as the Baghdad Pact). During my Navy cruises we were given a lot of background on these two canals - how they came to be constructed. Who were the leaders who succeeded and who were those who failed? When the United States of America opened and dedicated "Our canal" in 1914, we had surpassed the French and every other country to emerge as the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. In the decade of construction we had overcome tremendous obstacles - disease, jungle, and mountains - to connect the shipping lanes of the two great oceans. The dream of seafarers for centuries.
When President Obama took an hour to describe the State of our Union today I took special note of his remark that "Americans do Big Things." This is what my elementary education taught me 65 years ago. In the decades since there have been great national achievements, to be sure. But, since the dawn of the 21st Century there have been substantial failures. How, I wondered, will this president convince enough of us that we can even "attempt" any Big Things today?
Looking at the screen I was pleasantly surprised to see a Congress that could sit and applaud and rise to their feet as one body, not two. I listened for the issues and for the promises that always fill these politcal occasions. It was a hopeful speech. Uplifting and positive. Calling on national pride. Honoring the sacrifice of other people's children in war. Sharing the sorrow and pain of the shooting victims in Southern Arizona. Remembering those suffering today from joblessness and foreclosure. Now what actions will we take to deal with our challenges?
The challenges are many. Assault weapons readily available for anyone. Corporations still being rewarded after decades of exporting our jobs and shipping actual factory equipment to foreign countries to exploit the cheapest labor on earth. Bankers, lenders, and hedge funders who cheated and lied their way to enormous wealth still walk unpunished on Wall Street today.
It's a long list of challenges. Including those media moguls and talking heads who exploit the news media, old and new. Confused and distracted, we listen and watch, searching for honesty and truth.
I want to believe, Mr. President. I, too, was once involved with Big Things.
In 1957 aboard the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) I transited the Panama Canal en route to Panama City, Panama, and Valparaiso, Chile, as a trainee on Midshipman Cruise Baker. Just three years later I would transit the Suez Canal aboard the USS Essex (CVS-9) en route to Aden and Karachi, Pakistan, as a Navy pilot headed for a naval exercise in the Indian Ocean with units of CENTO, the Central Treaty Organization (known as the Baghdad Pact). During my Navy cruises we were given a lot of background on these two canals - how they came to be constructed. Who were the leaders who succeeded and who were those who failed? When the United States of America opened and dedicated "Our canal" in 1914, we had surpassed the French and every other country to emerge as the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. In the decade of construction we had overcome tremendous obstacles - disease, jungle, and mountains - to connect the shipping lanes of the two great oceans. The dream of seafarers for centuries.
When President Obama took an hour to describe the State of our Union today I took special note of his remark that "Americans do Big Things." This is what my elementary education taught me 65 years ago. In the decades since there have been great national achievements, to be sure. But, since the dawn of the 21st Century there have been substantial failures. How, I wondered, will this president convince enough of us that we can even "attempt" any Big Things today?
Looking at the screen I was pleasantly surprised to see a Congress that could sit and applaud and rise to their feet as one body, not two. I listened for the issues and for the promises that always fill these politcal occasions. It was a hopeful speech. Uplifting and positive. Calling on national pride. Honoring the sacrifice of other people's children in war. Sharing the sorrow and pain of the shooting victims in Southern Arizona. Remembering those suffering today from joblessness and foreclosure. Now what actions will we take to deal with our challenges?
The challenges are many. Assault weapons readily available for anyone. Corporations still being rewarded after decades of exporting our jobs and shipping actual factory equipment to foreign countries to exploit the cheapest labor on earth. Bankers, lenders, and hedge funders who cheated and lied their way to enormous wealth still walk unpunished on Wall Street today.
It's a long list of challenges. Including those media moguls and talking heads who exploit the news media, old and new. Confused and distracted, we listen and watch, searching for honesty and truth.
I want to believe, Mr. President. I, too, was once involved with Big Things.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
MISSING FROM MY MAILBOX
I walk to our rural mailbox on most days. Sometimes I meet our mail lady "Lisa."
I refuse to let my health care provider send our prescription drugs through the mail to be placed in this unprotected, remote container. Our mailbox is in the deep freeze in January and becomes a hot box for unattended hours or days in July. Thieves can ransack these mailboxes for the drugs they contain.
Why any sensible doctor or pharmacist would allow for this unwise temptation, that offers their patients very deep financial discounts on drugs, is beyound me. The "health" industry is all about profits and competition for those in charge. But it is not about "care" of persons (I'm afraid). So drugs are "Missing from our mailbox."
Yesterday I went to my nearest public library to collect our 2010 Federal Income Tax booklet. A few days ago I was clearing off my desk and took a careful look at the "Minnesota" 2010 Income Tax booklet that the mail lady had recently delivered.
"Suprise!" I read that this year the Feds are not mailing out our pre-printed tax booklet, with the envelope and labels - who we are, and which destination to choose: refund or payment.
Yes, that's right. "You may pick up your forms on-line or at a public library near you." If they don't bother to send me the forms, why should I bother to file? Millions of taxpayers will get no reminder, no prodding to start looking for their 2010 receipts. Will our employers and financial institutions bother to send us their 2010 statements? Was I the last citizen to get this word? Why wasn't I notified by the U.S. tax collectors of this change?
NO NEW TAXES! Are Grover Norquist and all the anti-tax Taxpayer Leagues behind this?
Did somebody get to the IRS? It will cost millions to track down all of us who can't or won't get the forms filled out. Internet on-line book keeping is just great - until the computer's hard drive crashes or your printer fails.
Oh yes, our librarian told me that the library doesn't have the 2010 tax booklets yet. As of January 18, 2011. Only the 1040EZ forms are now on the distribution table.
Now tell me, have you been told about this by anyone?
The new Federal Income Tax booklets are "missing from everybody's mailbox."
I refuse to let my health care provider send our prescription drugs through the mail to be placed in this unprotected, remote container. Our mailbox is in the deep freeze in January and becomes a hot box for unattended hours or days in July. Thieves can ransack these mailboxes for the drugs they contain.
Why any sensible doctor or pharmacist would allow for this unwise temptation, that offers their patients very deep financial discounts on drugs, is beyound me. The "health" industry is all about profits and competition for those in charge. But it is not about "care" of persons (I'm afraid). So drugs are "Missing from our mailbox."
Yesterday I went to my nearest public library to collect our 2010 Federal Income Tax booklet. A few days ago I was clearing off my desk and took a careful look at the "Minnesota" 2010 Income Tax booklet that the mail lady had recently delivered.
"Suprise!" I read that this year the Feds are not mailing out our pre-printed tax booklet, with the envelope and labels - who we are, and which destination to choose: refund or payment.
Yes, that's right. "You may pick up your forms on-line or at a public library near you." If they don't bother to send me the forms, why should I bother to file? Millions of taxpayers will get no reminder, no prodding to start looking for their 2010 receipts. Will our employers and financial institutions bother to send us their 2010 statements? Was I the last citizen to get this word? Why wasn't I notified by the U.S. tax collectors of this change?
NO NEW TAXES! Are Grover Norquist and all the anti-tax Taxpayer Leagues behind this?
Did somebody get to the IRS? It will cost millions to track down all of us who can't or won't get the forms filled out. Internet on-line book keeping is just great - until the computer's hard drive crashes or your printer fails.
Oh yes, our librarian told me that the library doesn't have the 2010 tax booklets yet. As of January 18, 2011. Only the 1040EZ forms are now on the distribution table.
Now tell me, have you been told about this by anyone?
The new Federal Income Tax booklets are "missing from everybody's mailbox."
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
WHERE THE MONEY WENT & WHERE IT IS NOW
At the start of 2011, with a glance back at 2010, the national news is abuzz with talk of debt, of deficit, and.... more Tax Cuts! One economics professor tells us we are down in a deep hole and we'd better stop digging. The Republican Party announces that their Top Priority for the new Congress in this time of economic crisis is "Cut Government Spending," shrink the size of government.
OK, I hear that. And an op-ed column I just read from the Boston Globe tells me where the spending is that needs to be cut. Listen to James Carroll, from "The Rich Get Richer Quicker" -
"... with current annual military expenditures now exceeding $1 trillion - the most ever. Ironically, nothing undermines American security like the cuts in public spending (infrastructure, schools, libraries, etc.) made necessary by exploding budgets for outmoded weapons. Not guns over mere butter now, but over bread - and books and bridges. This monetary calculus leaves aside the most corrupting dynamic of the war economy, how the nation is driven into unnecessary wars simply by the unleashed momentum of hyper-war-readiness. Over-investment in arms leads to their use, period."
Famous bank robber Willie Sutton answered the question "Why rob banks?" directly. "That's where the money is!" Americans know the answer in 2011. The money is at the Pentagon. One trillion dollars worth.
Since President Bush's inauguration in 2001, a decade ago, the annual outlay for the military has climbed from one third of a trillion (roughly) to over $1 trillion. We have borrowed to finance two wars, new weapons systems, and the medical care of thousands of our crippled troops far into the future, all this in a decade of lost opportunity for a society.
So let's climb out of this pit together. Bring down our lavish spending on wars and weapons until it meets the needs of our vital national DEFENSE.
Hands off my health care! Build back a strong infrastructure of pipelines, bridges to somewhere, rail lines that don't derail, modernized air traffic systems that can manage safe air travel. Viable airlines regulated so that maintenance is no longer sent to foreign shops where it is under-inspected.
You readers know what we need. I think I just found where the money comes from to get it done.
OK, I hear that. And an op-ed column I just read from the Boston Globe tells me where the spending is that needs to be cut. Listen to James Carroll, from "The Rich Get Richer Quicker" -
"... with current annual military expenditures now exceeding $1 trillion - the most ever. Ironically, nothing undermines American security like the cuts in public spending (infrastructure, schools, libraries, etc.) made necessary by exploding budgets for outmoded weapons. Not guns over mere butter now, but over bread - and books and bridges. This monetary calculus leaves aside the most corrupting dynamic of the war economy, how the nation is driven into unnecessary wars simply by the unleashed momentum of hyper-war-readiness. Over-investment in arms leads to their use, period."
Famous bank robber Willie Sutton answered the question "Why rob banks?" directly. "That's where the money is!" Americans know the answer in 2011. The money is at the Pentagon. One trillion dollars worth.
Since President Bush's inauguration in 2001, a decade ago, the annual outlay for the military has climbed from one third of a trillion (roughly) to over $1 trillion. We have borrowed to finance two wars, new weapons systems, and the medical care of thousands of our crippled troops far into the future, all this in a decade of lost opportunity for a society.
So let's climb out of this pit together. Bring down our lavish spending on wars and weapons until it meets the needs of our vital national DEFENSE.
Hands off my health care! Build back a strong infrastructure of pipelines, bridges to somewhere, rail lines that don't derail, modernized air traffic systems that can manage safe air travel. Viable airlines regulated so that maintenance is no longer sent to foreign shops where it is under-inspected.
You readers know what we need. I think I just found where the money comes from to get it done.
Friday, December 17, 2010
BLESSED ARE THE PEACE-MAKERS
In this holiday season, as Christians all over the world remember the advent and the birth of their Messiah, it is appropriate to look at these words of Jesus the Christ. In the Gospel of Matthew, from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God."
In one of the many tributes to diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who recently died on the job, a news writer commented that he was deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in bringing the conflict in Bosnia and Kosovo to an end. Holbrooke was mightily engaged in another "near-impossible" task this year as the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. His last words before his final 20-hour surgery - to his Pakistani surgeon - were about ending the war over there.
Yesterday the President reported to the nation on the state of the Afghanistan War effort. And yesterday 135 protesters, organized by Veterans For Peace, were arrested in front of the White House for "disobeying lawful orders" at the gates.
The history of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York and our Nation's response to that attack, directed from Afghanistan, is now nine years old. The embattled history of this primitive country, termed "The Graveyard of Empires" with British, Soviet, and American occupiers, goes back more than a century. Unravelling the adventurers, the conquerors, and the retaliators is not simple. But today the simple question has become "Is the current Afghan Conflict now a vital interest for America - for which we must sacrifice thousands of additional lives and hundreds of billions in treasure, years into the future?"
As a veteran of 17 years of naval service, I have concluded that it is not, not any longer. This is instead a time for diplomats of Richard Holbrooke's caliber. It is a time for Peace-makers. Whether or not the Afghans can govern themselves, we can defend our national interests adequately without occupying Afghanistan beyond 2011. This will be ten years after our retaliation against al Qaida and the Taliban who gave them shelter.
In one of the many tributes to diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who recently died on the job, a news writer commented that he was deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in bringing the conflict in Bosnia and Kosovo to an end. Holbrooke was mightily engaged in another "near-impossible" task this year as the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. His last words before his final 20-hour surgery - to his Pakistani surgeon - were about ending the war over there.
Yesterday the President reported to the nation on the state of the Afghanistan War effort. And yesterday 135 protesters, organized by Veterans For Peace, were arrested in front of the White House for "disobeying lawful orders" at the gates.
The history of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York and our Nation's response to that attack, directed from Afghanistan, is now nine years old. The embattled history of this primitive country, termed "The Graveyard of Empires" with British, Soviet, and American occupiers, goes back more than a century. Unravelling the adventurers, the conquerors, and the retaliators is not simple. But today the simple question has become "Is the current Afghan Conflict now a vital interest for America - for which we must sacrifice thousands of additional lives and hundreds of billions in treasure, years into the future?"
As a veteran of 17 years of naval service, I have concluded that it is not, not any longer. This is instead a time for diplomats of Richard Holbrooke's caliber. It is a time for Peace-makers. Whether or not the Afghans can govern themselves, we can defend our national interests adequately without occupying Afghanistan beyond 2011. This will be ten years after our retaliation against al Qaida and the Taliban who gave them shelter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
