SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

October 29, 2020

Sullivan’s Salvos 11/3/20

In this edition:

*Happy Birthday Rachel!

*VOTE!

*Election Night = Election Week

*Election Night Weirdness

*More on the Sales Tax

*Did You Know?

*Happy Birthday Rachel!

Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter Rachel, who turns 29 on the 6th! I am SO proud of Rachel! She has grown into a wonderful young woman and a great Mom. I love you, Ray!

*VOTE!

Election Day is upon us! Vote, and make certain everyone you know votes! There is a lot at stake here!

If you have a ballot, do NOT mail it in! Please take it to the Auditor’s Office unless it is actually Election Day. Then take it to your polling place! But you must have it with you! If you have other voting questions, call the Auditor’s Office at 319-354-6004.

I will admit; I am scared. I have never been more worried for my Country. All I can do is try my damndest to get as many people as possible to get out and vote!

*Election Night = Election Week

I hope you are preparing yourself and everyone you know for Election Week. That’s right; the notion of Election Day does not serve us well.

First, the counting process takes time. We may not get even our very first counts until hours after polls close. But that isn’t all. There will be ballots that are still trickling in, having been postmarked in time.

We already know how this is going to go. Millions of mailed ballots in Pennsylvania will be coming in Election Day and a few days after. They cannot even open them until 9pm our time. It is highly unlikely we will know the outcome in PA on Tuesday night.

We also know that precisely because of this, Trump is going to go on TV Tuesday night and call the PA election fraudulent. He is going to lawyer up and sue. We already know it. Just don’t let it weaken your resolve.

If the election night margin is large enough, it may not matter. But if a race is close, we need to demand that election officials take the time to count all legal votes. Don’t allow the process to be driven by the media. Have patience, and request the same from everyone you know. This is Election Week, not Election Night!

*Election Night Weirdness

COVID is causing me to break a pretty long streak. I have gathered at the Johnson County Democrat’s Election Night Party every two years since 1988. There is no party this year due to COVID.

Interestingly, I was in college on Election Night 1984, and I was almost certainly at a bar. I was in high school in 1980, and I recall seeing results after coming home from play practice. So I haven’t spent an Election Night at home since 1976! That is 44 years!

*More on the Sales Tax

As readers know, I am a Democrat. There are different types of Democrats. I am a pro-labor New Dealer. Unfortunately, those of us that are New Dealers have lost a lot of sway in the party over the past 40 years. That helps to explain why Democrats supporting the proposed Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) drive me so crazy.

Check out the following quote: “We have Socialism for the very rich and very poor, and brutal Darwinian Capitalism for everyone else.” Who do you think said that? Bernie Sanders? Elizabeth Warren? Nope, it was Steve Bannon.

That’s right. Steve Bannon, who ran Trump’s 2016 campaign. In actuality, Trump ran well to the left of Clinton on several economic issues. For example: NAFTA, trade with China, punishing those responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, putting labor at the table, and more. Sure, Trump was lying. But it was unfathomable that Democrats allowed this to happen. New Deal Democrats understood what was happening, but got pushed aside (again).

There were multiple reasons Clinton lost. An archaic, racist Electoral College; racism; sexism; Russia; Comey; she was disliked; etc. All are legitimate reasons. But too many Democrats refuse to acknowledge another truth – some voters chose Trump out of economic anxiety. It is true. I don’t know HOW many voters. But it didn’t take many. That fact is squarely on President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and the Democratic Party.

The exact same phenomenon happens locally. Author Thomas Frank notes this in his recent book, “The People No.” He writes: “Anti-Trump yard signs straining for inclusiveness read: In this house we believe: Black Lives Matter, Women’s rights are human rights, No human is illegal, Science is real, Love is love, and kindness is everything. They say nothing about organizing or earning a living wage.”

I know these signs. I like these signs. A friend put one up recently, and I was thinking about asking her where she got it. But Frank is correct. For some reason, many Democrats can get on board with everything except the idea that we need to help poor people.

Look at the language being used. The sales tax is “an opportunity we can’t pass up” and “leaving money on the table.” Why isn’t a property tax increase viewed as “an opportunity we can’t pass up” and “leaving money on the table?” I will tell you why. Local officials are afraid to ask the wealthy to pay more. It is much easier to dump your trouble on the poor. Not very New Deal, if you ask me.

Remember, 50% of any new LOST must go to property tax relief. The biggest beneficiaries of that? Big apartment owners, Coral Ridge, MidAmerican, and Green State Credit Union. We would be LITERALLY taking money from people on Social Security, and using it to buy down the taxes of those corporations. Not very New Deal, if you ask me.

In addition, the money left from the LOST after buying down property taxes simply doesn’t provide enough money to meaningfully help the poor. Let’s just say, for example, you want to try to address child care – a huge issue.

There are 9000 child care-aged kids in Johnson County. According to national statistics, about 66% require some type of child care. That leaves 6000 kids. Half the kids in Johnson County qualify as poor. So at minimum, about 3000 kids need financial help with childcare. Child care is about $1000/month here; $12,000 per year. So the local need for childcare funding is AT LEAST $36 million dollars annually.

The LOST proposal I have seen would generate maybe $18 million; could be less. Half offsets property taxes, so you are down to $9 million. 25% is targeted for infrastructure. Now you are down to $4.5 million. Even if every single remaining penny of the tax went toward child care - and it WILL NOT - you have a greater than $31-million-dollar gap. AND you got those results on the backs of the poor. Again, not very New Deal.

Want $4 million more for child care? Lobby cities and the county to raise property taxes. They have the ability to do so right now. If it is more important to them than Coral Ridge Mall, MidAmerican, and Green State, they can just do it. (In fairness, this example illustrates the scope of the problem, and why child care needs to be addressed at the federal level. I prefer Elizabeth Warren’s two cent Wealth Tax, if you are looking for a place to start.)

Bottom line? The sales tax sucks. And it sucks more the poorer you are. And opposing it is in keeping with New Deal politics.

*DID YOU KNOW? Republican candidates for President have won the popular vote just once in the past 28 years. Despite this, Republicans have held the Presidency for 12 of those years.
The one year they did win the popular vote (2004) was contentious. Officially, George W. Bush defeated John Kerry by 1% nationally. The winner was not determined until the next day, when Kerry decided not to dispute Bush's claim of a win in Ohio. Many experts feel that Ohio had shady results, and that Kerry might have won that state and the election.

Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-

www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov.

"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

---Rod

October 22, 2020

I wrote last week about the passing of Edith Hargrave of Iowa City, and it elicited an unexpected response. My good friend Greg Hearns, President of the Iowa City Federation of Labor and Business Agent for Teamster’s Local 238, called me up to tell me more about Edith.

As it turns out, Ms. Hargrave was a longtime member of Teamsters 238. She was active in Local 238, and also the National Black Teamster’s group. More importantly, she served as a mentor to many beginning workers, including a young Mr. Hearns.

I had no idea! Edith Hargrave always impressed me. My respect for her goes even deeper now. Thanks, Greg, for sharing!

Want to do something to help take back the Iowa House and help a great guy in the process? Please consider volunteering to help Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek as he runs for HD73. Lonny needs people to call voters in Johnson and Cedar Counties. Please let me know if you can help, and I’ll put you in touch. Thanks!

The topic of a Local Option Sales Tax has come up yet again. I remain opposed to increasing the sales tax. Sales taxes are better for the rich, and worse for the poor. This is because sales taxes are more regressive than property taxes.

What is regressivity? This means that the poor pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than do the wealthy. Sales taxes are the most regressive taxes. Income taxes are the most progressive taxes.

A person with an income of $90,000 paid 3.2% of her income in taxes. A person earning $19,500 paid 11.1% of her income in taxes. Relative to income, the poor pay more than twice what the middle class pay, and nearly 5 times the amount the wealthy pay. Even with exemptions, sales taxes hit the poor hardest.

So who are the poor? Most of the people living in poverty in Iowa and elsewhere are children. There are more poor women than poor men. 15% (105,000) of the children in Iowa live in poverty. Even more (42%) live in low-income families. Taken together, over half our children are poor. Sales taxes hurt them the most.

So who benefits? The biggest property tax payers in Johnson County will benefit the most. That includes: Coral Ridge Mall, Mid American, Hawk Landlord LLC, ACT, Green State Credit Union, and the Graduate Hotel. They benefit the most. Is that really what we want to do? Cut taxes on those businesses, and shift the cost to poor kids?

People like to talk about all the big things we could do with a sales tax. But we could do them right now with an increase in the property tax. That is correct. We can do it all with property taxes. Iowa City ranks #100 in property tax rate among Iowa’s cities at $40.77. That is lower than Des Moines, West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and many other cities. Iowa City could do the things they want to do by simply raising property taxes.

Coralville ranks #145 in property tax rate at $39.33. Coralville could do the things they want to do by simply raising property taxes. North Liberty ranks #312 in property tax rate at $36.05. That rate has not been increased even a penny in a decade. North Liberty could do the things they want to do by simply raising property taxes.

This is just a matter of political will. Elected officials are afraid to ask the people with the actual money to pay more. So they squeeze the poor, who by and large don’t show up at Council meetings. If the project is so important, just do it with property tax dollars.

People talk about being “visionary”. Where is the vision that makes things better for the poor? If we cannot collectively get past the idea that we don’t want to piss off a few local rich people? Then we aren’t a group whose “vision” deserves a vote.

You cannot raise money for public projects on the backs of the poor and pretend they will be unaffected. The needs of the poor will outpace any and all services that they have helped to fund. Governmental agencies should not improve their budget situations on the backs of the poorest of the poor. In Johnson County, parents and kids at Twain, Kirkwood, and Hills will put more of their income toward a sales tax than parents and kids at Wickham, Lincoln, and Shimek. Does this make sense?

Another problem with the sales tax is that services used solely by wealthy people tend not to be taxed. The services of accountants, attorneys, and stockbrokers are not subject to sales taxes. These and many other services (advertising, consulting, etc.) used primarily by the wealthy and by corporations go untaxed.

Sales tax proponents frequently use the argument, “Sales taxes are better than property taxes.” First off, this is demonstrably untrue. But even if it was true, this argument is akin to saying, “Drinking is better than smoking, so we need more drinking.” Neither tax option is good for the poor. But sales taxes are worse.

Some folks are under the impression that renters do not pay property taxes. While it is true they do not pay them directly, renters are definitely covering the landlord’s property taxes!

Assuming there is a demand, landlords will raise rents, regardless of taxes. They try to squeeze out maximum profit. This is supply and demand and will happen REGARDLESS of taxes.

Another flaw in this argument is assuming that landlords are somehow entitled to no less profit than they are currently receiving. Supply and demand drives the rental market - nothing else. This is a fact, and economists of all stripes have backed this up.

One argument sales tax proponents often make is that “outsiders” will help pay the tax. People who live outside of Johnson County will pay about 20-25% of the taxes collected. These are by and large not people from Chicago, however, but commuters who purchase goods on the way home.

I cannot, in good conscience, support a shift of the tax burden to people who have less money. What's more, I have trouble saying that a person earning $25,000 should pay more tax just because she lives in Williamsburg, Riverside, West Branch, etc. Especially when the local wealthy would be let off the hook at her expense. It is critically important that we think of our middle and low-income neighbors who commute to this County.

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature made the sales tax even worse a couple years ago, and pretty much impossible for me to support. At that time they required that at least 50% of any sales tax goes toward property tax relief. GOP Legislators pretty much could not have been more intentional in screwing the poor.

There are several theological arguments against increasing the sales tax. I just happen to buy into a worldview that those who are able need to help those who are not. It is a basic organizing principle of any society, for one thing. Most major world religions subscribe to the idea of helping the poor.

“The last shall be first and the first shall be last”; “Do unto others”; and “A rich man has a better chance of putting a camel through the eye of a needle than getting into Heaven.” Each of these argues against putting a greater tax burden on the poor. Let’s follow this lead rather than doing more to comfort the comfortable.

Frankly, I am REALLY tired of wealthy people saying that sales taxes “aren’t that regressive.” Easy for you to say as you vote to cut your own taxes at the expense of our poorest residents! And repeating your false claim over and over does not make it true. This argument is shameful, really.

Let’s be clear. The people who are bringing this up are not bad. They just want to see good things happen. I simply think they are falling into an all-too-common trap. An extra 5, 10, or 20 dollars does not sound like much to proponents. Because it is NOT much to proponents.

We are just all SO scared to ask the people with the most resources to pay for things. If that fear continues to be greater than the desire to do these projects, then the projects should not get done. Because our leaders lack the political will to do so.

The community has needs. I think we should discuss addressing those needs. But let’s not do it on the backs of the poor!

*DID YOU KNOW? The four states with the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates are Tennessee (9.47 percent), Louisiana (9.45 percent), Arkansas (9.43 percent), and Alabama (9.14 percent). Good company, right?

Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-

"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

October 15, 2020

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Edith Hargrave of Iowa City. I met Edith through Democratic Party politics, and she had quite a story to tell on that front. Edith and her husband Bill were real pioneers among Democrats in Johnson County. Bill was the first African American to serve as a Deputy in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, and the first African American to represent Johnson County in the Iowa Legislature. Edith was the first African American inducted into the Johnson County Democratic Party Hall of Fame.

Edith was sill making phone calls for candidates into her 80s. She called from my house pretty much every two years between ’06 and ’16, and she was as caring, polite, and lovely on the phone as she was in person. RIP, Edith.

Another passing of note is Carolyn Gross of Iowa City. Carolyn was the model small business owner. Technigraphics was extremely successful, and Carolyn shared the fruits of that success with the community. From the Chamber to ICAD to the Downtown District to Shelter House to the Boy Scouts to CommUnity Crisis Services to the local Democratic Party and so much more, Carolyn’s leadership and good works touched many people. RIP, Carolyn.

My daughter Rachel and I took advantage of drive through voting on Wednesday the 7^th. It was really easy and safe! We pulled in at 10:45 AM, and got the ballots at 11:15. It took 5 minutes to fill out the ballot, and we were on our way. I expect lines will grow even shorter after the initial rush. Great job, Auditor's Office!

One of the questions you will see on your ballot is, “Should Iowa hold a Constitutional Convention?” This actually appears on Iowa ballots in every year ending in zero. The basic idea is that the State Constitution is a living document, and can be changed.

1. The risk is too great. There are too many things too important to me (like LGBTQ civil rights) that could be taken away via a Constitutional Convention.

2. The rules are not laid out. When is the Convention held? How many delegates? How are delegates chosen? What are the voting procedures? Until and unless the Iowa Legislature clarifies this and much more, I will always be a No.

3. Big money would dominate such a Convention. This is particularly ironic, since one thing a Convention would likely feature is an Amendment limiting money in politics. But until such a rule passed, the big money would dominate.

4. There are other methods. In 2008, Iowans amended our Constitution to eliminate offensive words like “idiot” from the text. So it can be done.

The Iowa Constitution could definitely use some updating. But holding a Constitutional Convention is simply too great a risk.

I have also had a lot of people ask me about voting on judges. Personally, I took what might be considered a hybrid approach.

The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a Judicial Performance Review in order to give information to voters on the judges up for retention that year. (To rate a judge, attorneys must have appeared before him or her frequently.) According to the 2020 Review, every judge on our ballot passes this test. So I voted to retain all the local judges.

On the other hand, the Iowa Supreme Court Justices upheld the gutting of Chapter 20, which removed collective bargaining rights for thousands of Iowans. So I voted against every single one of them.

Yes, if the Justices were voted out, Governor Reynolds could in theory replace them with people who are worse. But you know what? I don’t care. I want a pound of flesh. To Hell with them.

Not only is it critical that YOU vote, but you need to actually step outside of your comfort zone and help others to do the same. I am not referring to phone calls here, though that is important, too. Actually engage someone who might need some help voting. Do you know any high schoolers who are 18? College students? Seniors? The barista you see every morning? A coworker? Think about the people you know, then reach out! Help them to make a plan, and help them to execute it.

My good friend Larry Baker is an astute observer of politics, and spent some tumultuous years on the Iowa City Council. He shared some wisdom with me years ago that bears repeating now. Larry said, “95% of all votes could be taken by a trained monkey. That 5% is why we hold elections.” He could not be more correct.

Every elected body is the same in this way. You vote to approve the minutes. You vote to pay the bills. You vote to accept various reports. You vote to acknowledge Domestic Violence Awareness Month (as we did two weeks ago), or Indigenous People’s Day (as we did last week). You take literally dozens of noncontroversial votes every single meeting. Larry’s estimate of only 5% being meaningful is right on.

This is why Bobby Kaufmann was so disingenuous when debating Lonny Pulkrabek. Kaufmann tried to claim a bipartisan record by explaining how frequently he voted with Mary Mascher. Sure. The Legislature takes even more of these perfunctory votes than does the Board. Everyone votes the same way most of the time. But as Larry Baker notes, 5% of the votes are why we hold elections. Pulkrabek is a kind and decent public servant. Kaufmann is a partisan hack. 5% MATTERS!

As for the Board of Supervisors, this became a hot topic a few years ago when Gazette columnist Adam Sullivan began poking around. Sullivan did the quick math, and noted that Supervisors vote the same way the vast majority of the time. (By the way – this is an example of good local journalism. It is exactly what Sullivan should be doing!)

Sullivan took this information to Supervisor Rettig, whose response was to quit speaking to the Gazette. Sullivan took it to then-Supervisor Mike Carberry, who nailed the answer: we do a lot of negotiations BEFORE items come up for a vote. Often there has been a great deal of disagreement, but we have worked it out. So the agreement you see in votes is the result of lots of compromise.

That is why I would urge you to pay attention to our Wednesday Work Sessions. A lot of work gets done during these sessions. Ideas are floated, and ideas are shot down. People who strongly disagree talk things out and reach compromises. Department Heads offer up suggestions and get policy direction. Most Supervisors use this time to really work through the issues facing our county. If you want to know what is happening, those meetings are a good place to look.

Having an elected body where most people typically vote the same way COULD be a red flag. When you see it happening, I urge you to dig deeper. If you dig deeper into the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, I think you will find mostly positive results. I believe you will find most of the members of the Board reaching compromises for the benefit of the people of this county.

*DID YOU KNOW? Drive through voting is available every weekday from 8-5. It will also be available Saturday October 24, Sunday the 25^th, Saturday the 31^st, and Sunday, November 1.

Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-

"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

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