This is Viewpoints for Thursday, November 30, 2017

We passed ‘something’

I’d like to take one last stab at the current, but ever changing, tax reform bill. A vote is being planned in a couple of days with a host of changes being made daily. The urgency to pass “something” is likely to get in the way of passing anything constructive. All the data, as opposed to the spin, clearly makes the bill extraordinarily skewed toward benefitting the richest and punishing the working poor. The net effect of this bill is not a war on poverty but an attack on the impoverished.

The Congressional Budget Office appropriately measured not only the actual tax impact on the poor but the effect of cutting funding to programs which primarily benefit these same people. What can possibly be the rationale for increasing the taxes for lower income individuals and families while cutting support system funding? What sense does it make to increase the already incredibly wide disparity between the very wealthy and those struggling to make ends meet?

Could it be that our Georgia representatives and senators are so focused on passing “something” that they have lost any sense of conscience or caring?

It is my hope that in every election in the coming years, every incumbent, Republican and Democrat, has an independent opponent. Loyalty to party, special interest and to a single individual, is not new but seems to be rushing headlong and unseeing off the cliff while yelling, “We passed something!”

Share ideas

Not unexpectedly, The Telegraph publishes responses to opinions that attack the messenger, not the message. It is no wonder then that readers hear mostly from the same people about the same issues, usually, religion, politics, or race relations.

Some of the responses come from outside the community and show the lack of knowledge or the willful ignorance of the author. Why would anyone care about an election, financial problems, or many other issues in another community unless the purpose is to discredit a person because of their own insecurities about their infallible world view.

Their world view is often wrong simply because of their upbringing into a culture where white privilege, especially first born, is an alien idea, never to be considered. They are led to believe, everyone in life has the same opportunities and they only have to work hard to be rewarded — white, black, Indian, or Hispanic. Sorry, the world does not work that way. Those with money, privilege, or connections to the better things in life will always have a better chance of success.

We can trace this beginning all the way back to the members of our first Supreme Court who were not black, or female, but who came from elitist well-funded families. This tradition continues to a lesser extent today. Anyone with a concern and solutions about local issues should not let the critics distract you, because the chances are good that you have some good ideas for our elected officials to explore.

Fat cats get fatter

This is in response to Roger Rader. If the GOP tax cut would pay for itself and increase tax revenues, why did the GOP increase the debt limit by $1.5 trillion? The GOP tax cut does not eliminate all deductions. It eliminates deductions for state and local income taxes, for property tax and interest on mortgages. Increasing the standard deduction to $24,000 will not result in 60 percent of taxpayers not paying any tax. Some individual tax deductions will be phased out within eight years.

By using tax loopholes corporations do not pay 35 percent, but about 19 percent. By using the same tax loopholes, corporations will not pay 20 percent, but about 12 percent. Most small business are not corporations. The owners combine the profits from their business with their other income and are taxed at the individual rate. The GOP tax cut does not decrease their tax burden. The GOP tax cut does not provide an incentive for corporations to bring $2 trillion-plus from off-shore tax shelters.

The stock market is not a measure of business growth. The stock market is an indication of how much money is invested in 401(k)s, mutual funds and financial institutions.

There are causalities when deductions are eliminated. The cruelest will be the elimination of the Educator Deduction. Teachers use this deduction to offset the cost of purchasing school supplies for their students. This not only adversely affects teachers, it hurts students who needed supplies.

The rich will always be with us

It is extremely important that the partisan Senate Republican tax bill does not pass, because it overwhelmingly favors the rich. GOP fiscal policies always put the rich first; it puts the shrinking middle class and the poor last.

Fiscally, in God’s kingdom on earth the last (middle class and poor) should be first and the rich should be last. I believe that is what God wills for God’s kingdom in the here and now worldwide. But in the United States and other nations, selfishness, greed and lust for power (domination) keep God’s will from becoming the people’s will.

If God’s will is to be done in America, it will only be done if we do it. God is not going to do it for us. One of the best ways to unite our country would be for Democratic and Republican senators (legislators) to work in a bi-partisan manner on making fiscal policy that puts the middle class and the poor, first.

It is the rich who make fiscal policy and pass the laws that affect everyone. The rich will be with us always and will always have much more than enough of life’s goods and services.

Mistletoe shortage

Just wondering. Today I went to a local grocery store in hopes of finding some mistletoe to decorate my home and have a little fun. You know what; there is none to be found in the Warner Robins area. I became curious and asked around and was informed that the growers, mainly from Oklahoma, refused to send a supply of mistletoe to many areas of the U.S. I finally found out the reason that the supply was so low. They are afraid they will be sued for sexual harassment.

And, so it goes, no hugs or kisses under the mistletoe this year.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Thursday, November 30, 2017."