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-
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 12:28 PM
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