SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
November 2, 2017
Sullivan’s
Salvos 11/7/17
In this edition:
*Happy Birthday Rachel!
*Vote!
*AmeriHealth and Medicaid
*The “Socialist”?
*Tax Brackets
*Did You Know?
*Happy Birthday Rachel!
Happy
Birthday to my oldest daughter Rachel, who turns 26 today! I am SO proud of
Rachel! She challenged us a LOT when she was a kid, but she has grown into a
wonderful young woman.
Rachel
is now seeing the other side of the parent-child equation, as she gave birth to
our first grandchild - granddaughter Zuri - back in May. Happy Birthday, Honey!
I love you!
*Vote!
Today
is Election Day! Every city in Johnson County holds elections for City Council.
Please do your civic duty, and get out and vote!
*AmeriHealth and Medicaid
Iowa’s
Medicaid privatization has been an unmitigated disaster, just as we predicted.
Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds handed our tax dollars to private companies
called Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) at the expense of Iowa’s poorest
residents. Now AmeriHealth, the largest of the three MCOs, recently announced
it is pulling out of Iowa.
I
had hope that the new DHS Director might see the light. Unfortunately, he said
this: “Just
because I have a problem with my iPhone doesn’t mean I got back to my rotary
land-line, you know,” Foxhoven said. “We’re committed to managed care. It’s the
right thing. It’s the right way to both provide good health care services and
keep it sustainable in the long term.”
Sorry,
but that is crap. And he knows it is crap. I had heard that Director Foxhoven
might be a decent fellow. He is not. Nice people do not play with the lives of
Medicaid recipients.
*The “Socialist”?
I
wrote this back in 2010, long before Bernie Sanders was running for President.
I think it still holds up pretty well:
Imagine young local politician, trying to build a grassroots
movement. Here are some of the things he is saying:
While
most politicians resist attacking the rich (because they want to avoid “class
warfare”), this guy rips the rich constantly. He even tells them they are going
to Hell!
While
most politicians run from the term “socialist”, this guy literally advocates
taking from the rich and giving to the poor.
While
elected officials in Iowa City “pile on” the Southeast side, this guy moves
there.
Instead
of voting to restrict panhandling, this guy hangs out with the beggars in the
Ped Mall.
Rather
than supporting the arming of the UI Police, this guy stages a sit-in at Jessup
Hall.
This
guy helps to organize workers into unions, and argues for better wages for
working people.
While
most local politicians ran away from the Land Water Future bond initiative,
this guy spoke out firmly for the environment.
Instead
of throwing tax incentives at businesses, this guy advocates for a huge
increase in human services funding.
This
guy loudly promotes “Obamacare”… though he thinks it does not go nearly far
enough. He prefers free healthcare for all.
Don’t
think for a minute that this guy is a fan of Obama, however. He is extremely
anti-war, and protests the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan every single day.
Could
this guy get elected in Iowa City? Not in a million years! He would be labeled
a Socialist, Communist, and a Liberal. He would be pilloried on the Press
Citizen message boards. They would call his policies “job killing welfare”.
Glen Beck fans would write letters attacking the socialist.
Who is the “candidate” I am describing? Jesus Christ.
Sure,
Jesus was not a politician. That is not the point. The behaviors I mentioned
above come right out of the New Testament; I simply changed the time and
location.
Ironically,
the actions I listed probably wouldn’t even be the topic of conversation.
People would instead be criticizing the length of his hair.
But
what DOES this mean? Most people in Johnson County claim to be Christians. Many
wear it on their sleeves. Is there a log in our collective eye? To use a
popular phrase, “What Would Jesus Do?”
*Tax Brackets
When
Republicans talk about tax “reform”, they almost always mention going to fewer
tax brackets. This is one of the worst ideas out there!
The
standard argument is that fewer tax brackets “simplifies” the system. That is
just not true. Each individual filing taxes pays a single rate. It doesn’t
matter if there are three rates or thirteen – you pay your rate. The number of
brackets has nothing to do with simplicity.
I
can tell you what less brackets would do, however – it would GREATLY enrich
those who are already wealthy! This is because we need more brackets, not less.
Here
is why: the current top tax bracket (39.6%) kicks in when you have an income of
$416,000 and above. I am fine with someone who earns that amount paying that
percentage in taxes. But why do we stop there?
There
should be a higher bracket at $1 million in income. Then it should go up a few
percent for every million earned after that. This would make our tax system
much more fair.
Right
now, there are small business owners, dentists, and attorneys paying the same
percentage in taxes as the wealthiest Americans.
Here
are the facts: in 2015, the 400 wealthiest Americans earned an average of
$265,000,000 each. That is about 640 TIMES the income of someone who just snuck
into the top tax bracket. (And over 3,000 times that of the average family!) Why
should billionaires pay the same income tax rate as dentists?
Unfortunately,
the situation is even worse than this. Because the richest Americans actually
pay a relatively small amount of income tax; instead, they pay taxes on
investments, real estate, dividends, and other things that are taxed at a MUCH
lower rate.
Remember the good old days of 2012, when Presidential candidates
released their tax info? Mitt Romney paid an overall rate of about 13%. Compare
that to the top rate of 39.6%, and you see that it really doesn’t even apply to
the wealthiest Americans.
Billionaires simply do not pay enough in taxes. Neither do big
corporations. Consider:
Some people have difficulty imagining the scale of millions and
billions. One helpful way to grasp the concept is to think in terms of seconds.
A million seconds is 11.5 days. A billion seconds is almost 32 years.
That
is the difference we are talking about here. It is a difference of scale that
is difficult to comprehend. Bottom line? The rich are taxed just fine. We need
to get the SUPER rich to pay their fair share!
*DID YOU KNOW?
The divide is even bigger when we compare WEALTH instead of income. The
400 wealthiest families in America own as much as the 202 MILLION poorest
Americans. That is correct: 400 = 202,000,000.
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:27 PM
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