SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
April 9, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 4/14/20
In this edition:
*Please Be Kind, Patient, and Calm
*Happy Birthday Jordan!
*CNN Interview
*Eating Our Seed Corn
*Did You Know?
*Please Be Kind, Patient, and Calm
We are still sheltering. It is getting old. People are anxious, angry, frustrated, and more. The State and Federal governments frustrate me. I want to see my family and friends.
All the more reason to please be kind, patient, and calm. It will help us all as we navigate these difficult times.
*Happy Birthday Jordan!
My daughter Jordan turned 26 on April 8th. Jordan graduated four years ago from Western Illinois University, and has working with youth in Memphis, Tennessee ever since. More importantly, she is a really good person. Man, am I ever proud! Happy Birthday, Jordan! I love you!
*CNN Interview
I had an interesting experience on Monday, April 6, when I did a brief interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN.
Yes, of course there is a part of this that is cool. I cannot deny that. But remember, the topic of the interview was why Iowa does not have a shelter in place order. That is the important thing. We don’t have such an order, and we should.
*Eating Our Seed Corn
Recent events remind me of an old farm warning: “Don’t eat your seed corn.” In the old days, farmers knew to save a certain amount of their corn harvest. This would be the seed corn the next year. The message is pretty simple. – don’t focus only on the short term.
Unfortunately, America has spent the better part of 40 years eating our seed corn. And now we are reaping what we have sewn. (To borrow yet another farming metaphor.)
For decades, the GOP has told people, “You know better how to spend your money than the government does.” So over the years, the federal government has not taxed you say $1000. At the same time, they have not taxed Jeff Bezos $10 billion. So the federal government cuts back on things like public health.
Now we reach a point where you need a Covid-19 test, a hospital bed, a ventilator, or some other public good. Can you just take that $1000 you saved over the decades and run out and buy what you need? Nope. Jeff Bezos still can – because he has a hundred billion dollars. But you can’t. And the government cannot provide it, because they were forced to make cuts. See how this works?
There is more. The Federal government used to maintain strategic stockpiles of all sorts of medical equipment and supplies. During the Cold War, the idea was that every region needed access in case it got cut off. But then came the push to “run government like a business”. Why have anything on hand when it can be delivered “on demand”? Why maintain a warehouse full of stuff when it can get here from China in under a week? How well has that worked?
Obviously, the flaws to that system have now been exposed. But it goes even deeper. The US government does all the medical care for our service branches, the VA, Indian Health, and more. They are our single largest healthcare provider. There is a huge federal need for medical supplies and equipment. Those supplies should have ALWAYS been produced in the US. I am told that 95% of the cotton swabs in the world are made in China and/or Italy. Why would the US government EVER allow that? Even if private healthcare providers opt for cheaper Chinese products, the US government should have been buying US made products all along.
The past three years are a perfect example of short-term thinking. With low unemployment, income pooling at the top, and very low interest rates, it was a perfect time for the federal government to act. Instead, President Trump led us in exactly the opposite direction.
He should have raised taxes on the wealthy. Instead, he cut them. He should have increased the social safety net. Instead, he cut it. He should have paid down some of the federal debt. Instead, he increased it. He should have spent additional billions on infrastructure. He did less than normal. He should have built out rural broadband. He did nothing, and now rural residents are even more isolated. He should have done something about student loan debt. Instead, he has made it easier for sham “schools” to profit off our children. Every single step Trump has taken has been for his own short-term benefit. Meanwhile, he has been eating our seed corn.
Disasters always have the worst effects on the poorest among us. Covid-19 is no different. The US is bound to have worse outcomes than other countries. Why? The sad state of the social safety net in the US. Consider the following:
· The lack of paid sick days in most jobs guarantees that sick people will be going to work, thereby spreading the virus.
· The huge number of uninsured Americans means people do not get tested, and put off necessary care, thereby spreading the virus.
· The huge number of uninsured Americans means sick people have nowhere to go. Until they get so sick that they visit a hospital emergency room, thereby spreading the virus in the worst possible way.
· Because insurance is tied to employment, Americans who get laid off get the double whammy of also losing their health coverage.
· The obscenely low wages in the US means many Americans cannot be off work for any amount of time and still maintain their housing.
· The fact that childcare is a huge problem for most American families causes even greater concern during the outbreak.
· People who are already struggling to repay student loans are now more likely to go bankrupt.
Many people will not recover from this. Many small businesses will not recover. And that should come as no surprise. The US has decided that it is important to keep billionaires earning as much as possible, but not important that US workers have sick leave, health insurance, and decent wages. We have eaten our seed corn. Billionaires have eaten our seed corn. There is nothing left in reserve.
*DID YOU KNOW? About 180 of the planet’s 195 countries have some type of paid sick leave. The US is not one of them.
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:57 AM
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