SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
October 26, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 11/1/22
In this edition:
*Now is the Time!
*You Have Another Job!
*Homecoming Week
*Remembering November 1, 1991
*Kudos to Todd Dorman!
*Underground Economies
*Did You Know?
*Now is the Time!
Are you worried about the future of democracy in the US? (You should be!) Worried about a woman’s right to choose? (You should be!) Worried about the future of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? (You should be!) Worried that the rich will just keep on getting richer and the middle class will keep getting screwed? (You should be!)
If you care about these issues or any others, now is the time to get to work. Voters are casting ballots as we speak. Volunteers are needed. Can you find some time to volunteer? If not now, when?
*You Have Another Job!
This appeared in Salvos last week, but it bears repeating:
We just talked about voting early. That is great, but it is NOT going to be enough! If you really care about this election, you NEED to put in the extra effort to ensure at least one extra person votes.
Here is my advice: Don’t assume people are voting, especially young people. Also, don’t assume they have a workable plan. Talk to them NOW to get a voting plan in place. I am doing this now with a former foster daughter and her husband. It is a long and complicated process. So get started!
*Homecoming Week
It is Homecoming Week at the University of Iowa. I am a very sentimental guy… probably too sentimental! With that in mind, you can understand why I love Homecoming!
I hope you all get an opportunity to take in some of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the game!
*Remembering November 1st, 1991
Thirty-one years ago today, a UI post-graduate student named Gang Liu killed four faculty members, a student, and himself.
Faculty members Christoph Goertz, Dwight Nicholson, Robert Smith, T. Anne Cleary, and Linhua Shan were all slain. Student Miya Rodolfo-Sioson was shot and survived but was left paralyzed from the neck down.
If you ask longtime residents of Johnson County, most can tell you where they were that fateful day. (I was working my second job - a Friday night shift in a Systems Unlimited group home.)
I wish I could say that in the decades that passed, something good had come from this horror. Frankly, I simply do not see it. Even bigger mass killings have occurred on other campuses across the nation. Our mental health system is no better, and our gun laws are even worse. The killings make no more sense today than they did twenty years ago.
If you want to learn more about that awful day in Iowa City history, here are a couple of remembrances: https://littlevillagemag.com/cowboy-justice-a-first-hand-account-of-the-deadly-1991-ui-campus-shooting-30-years-later/
I hope you will take a moment to reflect upon one of the saddest days in Johnson County history, and pray for the many survivors whose lives were touched by the people we lost that day.
*Kudos to Todd Dorman!
We all know what has happened to local journalism. It is sad. More importantly, it is having a profound impact on our Democracy. Things are NOT in good shape folks!
But every so often, there is a shining light that gives us hope. Among the brightest of those lights is Editorial Columnist Todd Dorman at the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Dorman hits all the right notes. He calls out lies, he points out hypocrisies, and he calls it as he sees it. Meanwhile, he punches up, not down, and defends those with little voice in our decision making.
Some will simply write him off as a partisan hack. That is not true. He has taken some friends of mine – Democrats – to task on a few occasions, and he did not pull any punches. And you know what? They deserved what he wrote about them. Dorman will criticize lies and hypocrisies wherever he sees them; it’s just that he can’t keep up with the current GOP.
I know GOP bigwigs like Jeff Kaufmann have tried to get Dorman fired. They got it done with Lyz Lenz. I hope the Gazette does not fold! To their credit, they still did endorsements, even though most Republican candidates refused to participate. Kudos to the Gazette, who stood up for what is right. (Unlike the Register, which will no longer do endorsements.)
Things are bleak, but there is still some really excellent journalism out there. If you are not reading Todd Dorman’s columns in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, you are missing out!
*Underground Economies
As a Board, we are often asked to make decisions based upon what will be good for our economy. That all sounds well and good, but there are widely varying views as to what is actually good for our economy.
One thing that we do not talk much about is the large underground economy that exists here. This is not unique to Johnson County. People have always desired goods and services not available to them in the traditional economy. And they have always been willing to pay for them. It goes back to the beginning of time.
What types of things fall into the category of underground economy? Things that are illegal, for one. Drugs and prostitution have usually been part of the underground economy. In the ‘20s, alcohol was the biggest piece. Societies change their views, and the economy changes with it.
Right now, a lot of goods and services are underground because of the regulatory state. Braiding and cutting hair, doing nails, preparing food, in-home childcare, home repairs, and car repairs are just a few of the many services that have gone underground because providers either cannot or will not comply with the rules that are in place.
I am torn on a bunch of these. Hairstyling, braiding, and nails are a racket. We charge young people – primarily women - $30,000 for an “education”, teaching them how to cut hair. Most of this is funded by the young women taking out expensive, high interest loans. They get done, and you know what the average pay is for a hairstylist in Iowa? $27,000. That works out to $13.50 per hour. And they get no benefits.
Why pay $30,000 for a job that pays $27,000? Because the styling “schools” buy off Republican Legislators and keep things as they are. If Iowa changed the requirements to say, “Stylists need a 60-hour class to cut hair,” the price of the instruction would plummet. People who now provide these services as part of the underground economy could leave the shadows. And pay taxes to boot.
In other cases, the state makes rules that cause me significant concern. Republicans in the Iowa Legislature recently increased the number of children for which a single childcare provider can care. They also lowered the age for people to work in childcare settings. Both of these changes might impact what happens in the underground economy. But I don’t see either change being good for children.
A young person I know has been getting her car worked on by a guy who is moonlighting. He works 9-5 at an auto repair shop, then does some repair at home on the side. He often looks at the vehicle, writes up what part he needs, and sends his customers to pick up the necessary materials at an auto parts store. They bring it back, and he does the fix – typically for about half what other shops charge.
I am not necessarily sure how I feel about this. Obviously, poor people have a dilemma – do I take a chance on this guy who is neither bonded nor insured? Or do I try to risk going longer without the repair? It is a difficult situation.
It is difficult on the other end as well. I can appreciate the auto mechanic’s entrepreneurial efforts, but is it really fair that licensed shops pay taxes while he does not?
The County cannot do much about the underground economy; Republicans in the Legislature have eliminated most of our regulatory ability. But we can continue to make noise, and hope that regulations address the things that are really important, while ignoring things that are largely unimportant. That would be better for our economy, and better for our people!
*DID YOU KNOW? Dia de las Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has Mexican origins. But there are arguments as to whether it is pre-Columbian, a spin on Catholicism, or some combination.
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.
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 5:13 PM
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