tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82225521033756693492024-03-08T18:25:14.087-05:00Bob Crandall Thinks.......Comments on economic and social issuesBob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-82817979699214465142019-04-24T09:52:00.000-04:002019-04-26T08:34:31.893-04:00IT'S UP TO US <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you
haven’t read the recent NY Times article about Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, and
you worry about the future of democracy, you should take time to read the
story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a link: </span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/magazine/behind-the-cover-murdochs-empire-of-influence.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/magazine/behind-the-cover-murdochs-empire-of-influence.html</a> </div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a
horrifying reminder of the concentration of power and influence in our society
and of how limited our expectation of morality and ethics in public life has
become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participation in our political
system is hugely expensive, and those who provide the needed funds are granted
enormous access to, and achieve substantial influence with, those who make the
rules. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Murdochs,
able to offer both money and media, have extraordinary influence around the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Australia, Fox newspapers and Sky
News are major factors on the political scene and, according to the Times
article, were an important reason Malcolm Turnbull lost his premiership to a
right- wing successor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the UK, Murdoch
newspapers influence many government decisions and were powerful voices for Brexit.
The family has a strong relationship with prime minister Theresa May and on
various occasions has sought to acquire full control of Sky TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the US, I think it is logical to believe
that Murdoch had more to do with Donald Trump becoming president than did Russian
hackers, although there is no way to weigh the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since Trump
became President, Fox has abandoned any notion of fairness in favor of
operating as a propaganda machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
it’s a success, as measured by the fact that Fox watchers disagree with most
other Americans on many important issues. Recently, Fox has moved to align the
views of the New York Post – the President’s first read – with those of Fox News.
Additionally, Murdoch’s son Lachlan, now chairman of Fox Corporation, has announced
plans to launch a streaming service called Fox Nation, for those Fox viewers
who are characterized as “super fans”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
seems little chance that a person who watches Fox, reads the Post and uses the
internet to watch Fox Nation will ever have a view different from that of Lachlan
Murdoch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
complexities of our time are puzzling for all citizens and beyond the grasp of
many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Newspapers – digital and printed –
curate the information they provide and can explain issues in depth, but often
have a clear point of view. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily,
more and more citizens seem unwilling to read either physical or digital
newspapers and turn instead to social media sites and television for
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Social media sites make no
effort to correct posts for accuracy and television cares little for depth and
often shapes content to comport with the opinions of its owners, as is very
much the case with Fox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The consequence
of all this is that a badly informed public can be and is heavily influenced by
both inaccurate information and partisan voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think the
degree of control Fox now exercises over what we call “news” is inconsistent
with sustaining democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily, no
legislative or regulatory solution seems imminent and it is likely that Fox and
other advocacy sites will sustain and perhaps increase their collective
influence unless we all do a far better job of filtering the “news” we see and
hear. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If that
happens, democracy may well be at risk, since those who have power and
influence will likely do all they can to sustain and enhance their
holdings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am reminded of a quote from George
Orwell’s “1984” in which Winston’s torturer has this to say about power: “We
know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.
Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in
order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish
the dictatorship”. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benjamin Franklin famously responded to a question
as to whether he and his colleagues had created a Monarchy or a Republic by
saying “A Republic, if we can keep it”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doing so is
up to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-29506863409479693952019-04-18T12:10:00.004-04:002019-04-18T14:15:33.931-04:00AN EASY DOSE OF PATRIOTISM <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
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The New York Times editorialized this week that everyone’s
Income Taxes should be public information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think it’s a great idea, and I hope the House will soon pass
legislation requiring it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Senate
will naturally defeat it but forcing Senators to vote for secrecy and against transparency
is a great way to underscore their continuing hypocrisy about all things
regarding taxes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There are solid reasons for making information about income
and taxes public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For one, knowing more
about what others make would give us all a better understanding of how severe
income and wealth inequality has become. The Times reports that in Finland,
where individual tax data is published annually, an analysis of the data is
part of the political process of deciding how much inequality the country is
willing to accept. Sounds like a first-rate plan!</div>
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<br /></div>
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More information about what others make would also have an impact
on inequality itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing what
others make will enable the capable and aggressive to build a far better case
for increased rewards than is possible without information on competitive
earnings. Additionally, transparency would have a positive impact on
compliance, since people are not likely to under-report either income or taxes
when doing so amounts to a public admission of ineptitude. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And transparency would encourage compliance
since most people want to be honest and would rather not suffer the social
shaming associated with being caught <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cheating. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Making information about taxes public isn’t as radical an
idea as you might think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the years
following 1861, when Congress first imposed the tax to finance the Civil War,
the government collected income and tax information by name, and until the
early income tax laws were repealed in 1872, newspapers often published the information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Income taxes reappeared following the
adoption of the 16<sup>th</sup> Amendment in 1919 and in 1924, the government
grew so concerned about tax fraud that it decided to make information about taxpayer
income and taxes available for inspection. Predictably, wealthy taxpayers lobbied
Congress to reverse the rule, and secrecy has prevailed since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And again, the results have been predictable. </div>
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<br /></div>
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These days, tax compliance is a joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less than 10% of household help – whose
employers are legally obligated to pay the employer portion of Social Security
and Medicare taxes – are paid “on the books”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congress – for reasons that can only be based
on cowardice and corruption – has consistently underfunded the IRS and as a
result, the government loses an estimated $450 Billion owed but uncollected
annually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By closing our eyes to these
enormous revenue losses, and by ignoring the adverse moral and ethical impact
of non-compliance, we are seriously undermining our country. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many years, paying every dollar due was
regarded as a patriotic duty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily,
the chances of being audited are now so remote that people who pay their taxes
are increasingly regarded as suckers rather than patriots. </div>
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<br /></div>
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For decades, Americans have ridiculed the non-compliance of
citizens of other countries. It’s time for all of us to reclaim the pride of
patriotic compliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell your
Representatives and Senators you expect them to encourage full tax compliance
by fully funding the IRS, making clear that full compliance is expected from
everyone and publishing tax information to prove its all happened. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-77552859867067053402017-11-29T10:52:00.000-05:002017-11-29T10:52:01.442-05:00A BAD JOKE <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The tax bills now careening through Congress are a very bad
joke. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What the Republican leadership is calling “tax reform” is
nothing but an ideologically driven plan to lower the taxes of wealthy
Americans, myself included. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To finance
the cut, they propose to add a trillion and a half dollars to the national debt
and impose higher taxes on an uninformed and largely unsuspecting electorate. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">America’s middle class is falling behind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1971, the middle class earned 62% of aggregate
income; by 2015, that percentage had fallen to 43%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In inflation adjusted terms, real average
hourly wages for non-supervisory workers have fallen in the years since 1973. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The middle class is hurting, yet the proposed
“reform” would raise taxes on many middle-class families immediately and far
more as deferred provisions of the “reform” take effect. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having America’ s middle class pay higher
taxes so that a retired CEO – like me – can pay less makes no sense. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Meanwhile, the top 1%, which has done incredibly well
financially, will benefit enormously from the proposed “reform”. The share of
total income earned by the top 1% has reached nearly 20%, up from about 10% in
the early 1970’s. Despite this groups prosperity, the </span><a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/model-estimates/senate-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-passed-committee-finance-nov-2017/t17-0279-major"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Tax
Policy Center</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>calculates that this
“reform” will <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>generate an average tax
cut of $35,000 for the top 1% and $85,000 for the top 0.1% in 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And both the 1% and the 0.1% will get larger
savings in later years, when middle class taxes would go up rather than down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Nor do the several arguments advocating lower corporate tax
rates hold water. As every CEO worth his or her salt knows, most U. S.
corporations pay nothing like the statutory tax rate, and some pay no taxes at
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During recent decades, wages have
not kept pace with productivity and as a result, profits have increased as a
share of GDP while wage income has decreased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>America’s corporations are doing just fine.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Reform” proponents argue that their proposals will
lead to more investment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to
see why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American is capital rich, and
the notion that capital shortages are hampering investment just does not
compute. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Proponents also argue that repatriating offshore
cash will drive investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good luck. America
has tried this before, to its sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
2004, Congress passed legislation allowing corporations to repatriate foreign
earnings at a lower tax rate in hopes of stimulating investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But instead of leading to investment and
jobs, repatriated funds were used to buy back shares, thus transforming the
program into a windfall for shareholders – and making the already rich still
richer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Albert Einstein is credited with saying “The
definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a
different result”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For decades,
Republicans have told us that cutting taxes will facilitate solving our
problems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, since we began
cutting taxes in the mid-80’s, we have denied our government the resources
needed to sustain the activities which support middle class life and have
fallen steadily behind other countries, who have raised taxes to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>expand the security network they offer
citizens and have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>improved or sustained
their infrastructures. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We need to get America growing again, but to do so,
we need to use common sense, not the snake oil of more tax cuts. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">To
make America more competitive, reduce income inequality and revitalize the
middle class, we need to invest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the
things that made America a world leader from the middle to the end of the 20<sup>th</sup>
Century.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We need to invest in our future by rebuilding our roads,
bridges, water systems, sewage system, ports, railroads and airports. We need
to be sure every kid gets a great education. We need to rebuild the energy grid
and reclaim leadership in the search for non-polluting energy sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to do the research needed to cure
cancer and stop Alzheimer’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we need
to fund these investments with taxes, not with borrowed money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This tax “reform” is worse than a bad joke – it’s a
refutation of the common- sense steps which are clearly needed to reclaim
American exceptionalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Ronald Reagan called America “A shining city on a hill”, a
vision of our country that reflects the opinions and hopes of most <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before committing themselves to embracing this nonsensical “tax reform”,
Republican leaders ought to ask themselves whether they believe it will help our
country shine as brightly in the future as it has in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-50045842099651476202017-10-29T20:49:00.002-04:002017-10-29T21:24:41.792-04:00A GOOD CENSUS IS ESSENTIAL <div class="MsoNormal">
Dispute is the name of the game in today’s politics. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Republicans think the President's efforts to improve the
terms of trade between America and other countries, to control immigration from
selected countries, to undo Obamacare, to limit economic and social regulation,
to strengthen defense and to reduce taxes are steps that will benefit America
and are consistent with his campaign promises.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Democrats think the President is systematically dismantling our
government by appointing Secretaries of the major agencies who are opposed to what their agencies are charged with doing, lack experience in the
relevant disciplines or are intellectually unable to master the tasks with
which they are charged. They believe the
government should sustain and build upon past regulatory accomplishments, act
to prevent further decay of our infrastructure, should sustain and expand
government R&D, should broaden the government’s efforts to retrain workers
for better jobs and higher wages, and should not seek tax cuts that are
inconsistent with sound fiscal policy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whatever the validity of these differing points of view, and
for all the damage or good that those appointed to high places are doing and will do
before 2020, the President’s unwillingness
to appoint management at the US Census Bureau and provide funding for the upcoming 2020 U.S.
Census will likely have more profound and far reaching consequences than the
near term impact of either legislation or executive orders. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Census matters a
lot, for many reasons. Census data
determines the makeup of Congress, and provides information which determines
the allocation of tens of billions of federal dollars. Moreover, the Census
provides essential protection and guidance for both individuals and businesses.
Without accurate census information,
there would be no way to be sure that government funds for building schools,
roads and other public facilities would be accurately allocated. Nor would businesses
have accurate data about population densities and trends to help locate stores,
assess the probable success of new products, and do other kinds of planning. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our founders believed that census data is essential to participatory
democracy, and wrote the requirement for a census into our constitution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unhappily, neither the President nor the Congress have yet
taken the steps necessary to properly conduct the 2020 census. The Director of the Census Bureau retired in
June 2017, and has not been replaced.
Moreover, recent budgetary proposals include substantially less for the
Bureau than the approximately $12 billion the retiring Director told Congress
the 2020 census will cost. Unless these
problems are fixed by early 2018, there will not be sufficient time to test
2020 census procedures and get the hundreds of thousands of people needed
organized and in place. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without census data, the government will lack an essential compass. Since our course is already erratic, the
absence of a compass could prove catastrophic. <br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-91730545627968338142017-04-11T16:04:00.001-04:002017-04-11T16:04:32.801-04:00LET'S HAVE MORE FLINTS!!!!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes,
true life is hard to believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year
ago, with the country agog about unsafe drinking water in Flint, Michigan, the
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No
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about 31% --<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>while eliminating a
quarter of the agency’s 15,000 jobs. Among many other cuts, the Agency is
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cutting back
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is there
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Give you any
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<br /></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-40830552027682018272017-03-15T14:51:00.000-04:002017-03-15T15:30:48.673-04:00Do Only Suckers Pay Taxes?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DO ONLY SUCKERS PAY TAXES?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve always
thought of taxes as the price of civilization, and while grumbling along with
everyone else about the tax codes complexity, I have never felt anything but
pride in my ability to contribute larger amounts to our shared enterprise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once,
when I was audited, I was particularly proud of the fact that the only mistakes
found were in the government’s failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ended up with a small refund!! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many years, I think the vast majority of citizens
shared my view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In recent years,
however, the number of people who disagree with the existence, intent or
performance of the government has increased dramatically and as a consequence, there
seems to be growing acceptance of tax evasion and a near constant chorus of calls
- often from very wealthy people – for lower tax rates.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my view,
a collective disdain for tax compliance threatens both our solvency and our
form of government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a large country like the US, where most
people do not run for public office or otherwise participate actively in
governance, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>preserving representative
government <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>depends, at least in part, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on sustaining the rituals of participation
that establish <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a common interest. In
years past, one of the most important of those rituals was mandatory military
service, which touched virtually every family’s life directly or
indirectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mandatory service has given
way to a volunteer military about which most of us know very little and with
which we have little interaction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
weakened ritual is voting. In the most recent Presidential election, only 58%
of eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot; 90 million citizens simply didn’t
bother and by implication, care little about voting rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the
most important remaining rituals is obeying our tax laws, which rest on a
presumption of compliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily, the Congress – which levies taxes
and should seek to encourage honest tax reporting – seems intent on making tax
compliance a “suckers only” game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
addition to echoing calls for lower taxes, lawmakers have been gradually eviscerating
the IRS, which is no longer capable of enforcing our tax laws. In 2014, the
latest year for which I could find records, the IRS audited less than 1% of all
returns, and only 16% of those returns which reported income of more than $10
million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason is simple: fewer
auditors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2016, enforcement staffing fell
to less than 16,000, fewer than were on the job back in 2010. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The lack of
investigative manpower leads, inevitably, to widespread tax evasion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following each of the last several
Presidential elections, one or more cabinet appointees have been revealed as
having failed to pay taxes on household help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Last year, fewer than 200,000 taxpayers paid these taxes, a number
implying massive non-compliance. It doesn’t seem to matter to these evaders
that the helpers will end up, years in the future, without the retirement
benefits everyone needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to doing far too few audits, the agency
is doing fewer investigations of identity theft, money laundering, and public
corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, taxpayers seeking
IRS assistance increasingly find their written queries unanswered and the agency’s
telephones unmanned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">None of this
makes sense, since we have a huge tax gap – the difference between the amount
paid and the amount owed – and the IRS is extremely efficient, spending just 35
cents to collect every $100 of revenue collected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, incremental spending produces huge
incremental gains: for every $1 spent on additional agents, the government
recovers $4 of additional revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
the government needs the money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last
year’s budget deficit was $587 billion, but more than $450 billion in taxes
went uncollected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Collecting the money due
but unpaid would nearly eliminate the deficit and free up funds that are needed
to improve our infrastructure, improve health care and revitalize our
educational system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unhappily,
things seem to be getting worse, not better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Trump Administration has proposed a 14.1 percent cut to the IRS for
the fiscal year that begins in October, which would reduce the agency’s budget
to about 70% of what it was six years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If that proposal becomes reality, agency effectiveness will decline
still further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t
understand why our government follows policies seemingly designed to minimize
tax collections and create a nation of scofflaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In years past, Americans mocked countries
unable or unwilling to collect taxes; today, we seemed determined to emulate
them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There will
always be disagreements about what roles government should or should not take
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we want to sustain self- governance,
we need to recognize that doing so requires adherence to the rule of law,
including calculating and paying all the taxes that are due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only by doing so can we be sure that citizens
who pay their taxes will see themselves as patriots, not suckers!!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-44952563702276148432016-02-21T11:19:00.001-05:002016-02-21T11:19:56.291-05:00WRONG ON THIS ONE WRONG ON THIS ONE<br />
<br />
On February 15, the New York Times editorialized against a proposal to remove management of America's air traffic control system from the FAA, and hand responsibility to a non-profit corporation governed by the system's customers and participants. More than 50 countries around the world have already taken equivalent steps, with outstanding results. The US has fallen behind in aviation, and without this change, is unlikely to catch up. <br />
<br />
Although I am a great fan of the Times -- and a Democrat -- I think both the paper and my party are wrong on this issue. On February 16, I sent the Times the following response, which it has declined to publish. <br />
<br />
<br />
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As a long time student of the airline industry and fan of
the New York Times, I am deeply disappointed by the Paper’s opposition to the
proposal that the FAA’s Air Traffic Control function be moved into a non-profit
corporatized ANSP (Air Navigation Service Provider).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The present system is clearly broken and I
believe that the Paper is wrong on the facts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>First and foremost, corporatizing is not
privatizing. The proposed non-profit organization will be governed by a Board
which includes representatives of the airlines, general aviation, consumers, unions
and the federal government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
organization will set and collect service fees sufficient to cover its costs
and will be able to sell bonds against those fees, thus providing reliable
capital funding. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be free to
manage its business as it sees fit so long as it conforms to safety
requirements established by the FAA.</li>
<li>The purpose of the proposal is to separate the safety oversight and navigation service provider functions, as more than 50
countries have already done. Safety oversight should and will remain the
responsibility of government; navigation services should and will be provided
by an organization able to provide for its long term financing needs by bonding
its flow of user fees, free to compete with private enterprise for the skilled
personnel needed to manage the world’s largest and most complex air space, financed
and governed by its customers, and free of political interference.</li>
<li>The claim that Canadian air traffic control costs have increased more rapidly than costs in the United States is incorrect. Nav Canada's charging rates are now only 5% higher than when user fees were fully implemented in 1999, but are one third lower after correcting for inflation since then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>By way of contrast, FAA's cost per unit of
workload has increased sharply since 1999.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Moreover, Nav Canada’s cost per IFR flight hour is more than 30% lower
than the same cost in the U. S. </li>
<li>The notion that safety will somehow be compromised is bogus. While the FAA has done an excellent job of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> operating a complex system safely, in every country in
which<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>safety and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>aviation navigation service functions have
been separated,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the safety record<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has been equal to or better than the record
prior to separation of the two. That’s only logical, since splitting the
functions removes the burden of self- regulation, in which some level of
conflict of interest is inherent and inevitable. </li>
<li>The idea that creating an ANSP would disrupt the FAA's effort to implement Next Gen - a broad upgrade of the nation's airspace management system -- is a refutation of reality. The FAA has struggled for years with Next Gen, routinely running far
behind schedule and far over budget on each of its many components.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The financial uncertainty and political
meddling inherent in Congressional supervision are incompatible with optimizing
technical progress. </li>
<li>It is disingenuous to claim that the proposed bill gives short shrift to passenger interests. The public interest is never well
served by inefficiency, and in the status quo too many flights are delayed and
cancelled and too many passengers are left unserved. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need a more efficient air space management
system, and to get it, we need to create an organization that will be funded and
governed by its customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
customers will naturally demand a system optimized for both efficiency and
economy. The improved system will allow airlines and others to schedule more
flights, burn less fuel and make travel both less expensive and more enjoyable.
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a change that many in the aviation community have
been pursuing for decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope the
New York Times Editorial Board will re-think its position and that Democratic
politicians will recognize the error of their opposition and work with the
bill’s sponsors to produce a change that will benefit both travelers and the
nation’s economy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-56470821366827211912015-04-01T10:37:00.000-04:002015-04-01T10:37:21.338-04:00Tired of it yet?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I often
wonder when we are going to decide that an individuals’ right to privacy ends
when that person acts or aspires to act in a way that impacts the life and
welfare of others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In Chicago,
the mayoral candidates are scrambling to outdo one another’s pledges to remove
cameras at intersections, apparently because most Chicago motorists believe
their<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>privacy rights extend to being
allowed to run red lights, even if doing so is against the law and may kill
other people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are learning
that strict German privacy regulations probably prevented Lufthansa and its
subsidiary German Wings from acting as aggressively as they should have to
prevent a suicidal co-pilot from slaughtering a plane full of passengers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Similarly,
we can’t know the names of the Secret Service agents involved in any of that
agency’s recent failures, whether any of the agents involved in those failures
have been or will be dismissed and details of the selection and training processes
that made it possible for deficient personalities<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to play important roles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The privacy
fixation also impacts our lives in day- to- day ways that challenge common
sense and shape the social contract. Universities are not allowed to give me
the grades of those for whom I pay tuition, doctors won’t talk to me about my
wife’s health,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>banks won’t give me
credit card balances on cards issued to others on which I am joint guarantor.
While these irritants do not threaten the public welfare, the imposition of
legislated standards which supersede pre-existing presumptions of normality
erodes the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>social contract by implying
that privacy has a uniquely important value. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We will
never be able to identify those most likely to commit horrific acts until we
are prepared to acknowledge that an application to undertake public life
requires giving up personal privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
person who wants to fly or drive a public conveyance, a person who wants a
license to practice medicine or dentistry, a person who wants to teach or care
for our children, a person who seeks the right to provide legal, brokerage or
accounting services, a person who seeks the right to carry a weapon in public
places – all these and others who influence the lives of others -- should be
prepared for complete disclosure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
else can we judge the character and qualifications of those to whom we trust
our lives, our money and our reputations?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m tired of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you? </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-51880683770587268922014-08-04T13:42:00.000-04:002014-08-04T13:42:50.758-04:00DOING EVERYTHING WRONG <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It isn’t
very often than any individual, company or government gets everything wrong
simultaneously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the members of
Congress, clinging fiercely to ideology, expediency and cynicism, are doing so
regularly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There can be no better
illustration than the pathetically ignorant and immoral “solution” fashioned
this week to forestall the pending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No thinking
person – Democrat, Republican or Unicorn – can possibly believe that encouraging
companies to further shortchange already inadequately financed pension plans is
a sensible approach to funding highway construction. Nevertheless, that’s what
Congress just did, before rushing off to an ill deserved “vacation”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyone who
pays attention to public affairs knows that the US has been seriously
underfunding maintenance of the country’s physical infrastructure for many
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spend roughly half as much, as
a percentage of GDP, on infrastructure maintenance as most developed
countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Highway Trust Fund, which
provides a large percentage of the money needed to sustain and expand our
roads, is supported by a federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, which
has not been increased since 1993. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
building and maintaining our roads is more expensive now than when the tax was
last increased, the Trust Fund is expected to run out of money at the end of
August. Should that happen, about 600,000 jobs will be lost as highway
construction and maintenance projects across the country shut down. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Shutting
down projects that are providing good <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>jobs is bad for the re-election prospects of
incumbents, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so Congress went looking for
a way to keep those projects going – without raising taxes (perceived as bad by
politicians) or increasing the deficit (also perceived as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bad by politicians) .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To accomplish its goal, Congress <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>decided to make another problem even worse
than it already is—counting on the fact that most of us won’t notice and even
if we do, won’t do anything about our outrage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To prevent
the Trust Fund from running dry, Congress authorized the transfer of $10
Billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally, increasing the government’s
expenses by paying for road building would count as an increase in the deficit.
However, since most members lack the courage to acknowledge that truth, Congress
decided to “finance” the fund transfer by allowing corporations to make smaller
pension contributions under certain circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing so allows Congress to forecast larger
corporate profits and increased tax receipts, thus – theoretically – covering the
cost of the payment to the Highway Trust fund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since smaller
pension contributions now will mean higher contributions later, arguing that
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nonsensical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, since many
pension plans are already underfunded, and since the government agency
responsible for replacing benefits owed by failed pension plans -- the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation ( PBGC)—is itself in financial difficulty,
allowing more plans to be more underfunded is clearly contrary to common sense.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless, because underfunded
pension plans make news only when they actually go broke, Congress feels confident
that its chicanery will go unnoticed and has proceeded to “solve” the problem
of a depleted Highway Trust Fund by making the pension funding problem worse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
nonsensical legerdemain is extraordinarily troubling and goes on only because
most citizens pay little attention to what Congress does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even fewer write, call, or otherwise complain
about irresponsible behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every member
of Congress knows that this “solution” to the Highway Trust Fund’s illiquidity is
both illusory and fraudulent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each member, whatever their ideology, knows
that without world class infrastructure, our country cannot create or sustain
the constantly growing economy needed to sustain the US way of life. Each
member, by participating in such charades, makes a mockery of the leadership he
or she pledged to provide when seeking office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Until a
larger percentage of our citizens realize that our government isn’t working
well, the US is not going to find solutions to the many great issues that
challenge us<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--infrastructure,
education, energy, research and development, immigration, inequality, taxation,
debt, you name it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While these are all
hard problems – requiring careful thought and serious deliberation – they are
no more difficult than other problems we have faced and overcome in times
past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solutions are not beyond us, but
will surely continue to elude us until we choose our leaders more wisely and
pay more careful attention to what those leaders are doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who choose to lead must be held
accountable for getting things right, but so far, seem to be doing just the
opposite. </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-32326679946211959652013-01-06T16:56:00.000-05:002013-01-06T16:56:26.004-05:00TIME FOR A REAL DISCUSSION <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In our ever more dysfunctional political system, discussions
about real problems never seem to happen. As a result, neither our problems nor
potential solutions are well understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For whatever reason – probably because facts are boring and
conflict sells newspapers and draws viewership – the media seems intent on
casting last weekend’s Congressional action as a plus or a minus for one or
another of the political parties and individual political figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The facts are that while the legislation
raised taxes on some affluent Americans by a bit, it also made the ill-advised
tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent for most Americans and did nothing to
reduce US government spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
result, the deficit will <u>increase</u> by about $4 trillion dollars more
during the next 10 years than would have been the case had the Congress done
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire charade was
political theatre, pure and simple.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The primary problem, for the benefit on anyone who has been
living on another planet for the last several years, is that our tax system is
not generating enough money to pay for the many programs and services Congress
has voted to adopt. We have more government than we are paying for – and we
can’t continue living on our credit card forever. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Federal spending is running at about 23% of our gross
domestic product (GDP) while our tax system is generating federal revenues of
only about 16% of GDP. The federal government’s share of Gross Domestic Product
– federal revenue as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product – is far below the
21% collected by the federal government in 2001 and well below the average
collected for the last 60 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The notion that we can bring the deficit under control
simply by cutting spending is pure fantasy. The big entitlement programs –
Social Security and Medicare – can certainly be modestly adjusted, but cannot
be substantially changed without repudiating promises on which millions of
Americans depend. Moreover, our aging population will be pushing entitlement
spending up, thus offsetting our efforts to reduce costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We can and should stop acting as the world’s policeman, and
having done so, should be able to reduce defense spending substantially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can and should eliminate or substantially
reduce outdated and unneeded major programs like agricultural subsidies, but we
cannot and should not eviscerate the hundreds of essential programs and
agencies supported by the domestic non-defense budget which politicians love to
rant about reducing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should demand
that the government’s agencies and programs be run more efficiently, but
whatever we save will likely be more than offset as interest rates rise and the
interest we must pay on our massive government debt increases.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To have a real conversation, we need to know what share of our
national income the government needs to provide the services we all want and
expect. The President-- who is supposed to lead – needs to put together a list
of what he thinks we need, and what he thinks we can get rid of. Others will
disagree, but instead of denouncing the President should be required to propose
alternative lists of things to be kept and things to eliminate. Debating the
merits and desirability of alternative governmental functions would constitute
a real discussion about what we are prepared to pay for and what we are willing
to eliminate. Unhappily, no one in political life has yet been willing to put
together a list, since eliminating anything will offend someone. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once we reach a consensus on what’s needed, we’ll need to
have another discussion about how to raise the needed money. It can’t all come
from those characterized as rich, although we should – in my judgment – expect
affluent Americans to pay the same percentage of their incomes as they did in
1990, before the two rounds of ill- advised tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Doing so
will increase their tax burden by a lot more than what’s required by the recent
fiscal cliff compromise, and would be a step towards a solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no amount of
taxes on the rich will even scratch the surface of the deficit problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>To pay for the government we all seem to
want, every American is going to have to pay more than we pay today. Like it or
not, the “hard working middle class”</u> that our politicians love to pander to
cannot be spared their share of the burden. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Getting the necessary money will require major changes in
our tax system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking all the money we
need as taxes on income will have substantial negative impacts on incentives
and capital accumulation, and will slow the pace of an economy that is already
growing too slowly. In my view, we need to design and implement a far simpler
income tax code, with fewer deductions, loopholes and exceptions, impose higher
Social Security and Medicare taxes, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>levy
a gasoline or usage tax to pay for our highway system and add a value added
tax. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most other developed countries
employ a similar variety of taxes to meet their revenue needs, and we ought to
follow their lead. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whatever the answer, we aren’t going to get there until all
of us tell those who represent us to get serious. Any member of Congress who
thinks that refusing to raise the debt limit – which amounts to refusing to pay
for programs Congress itself <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>voted to implement <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– makes any sense should be defeated when he
or she next runs for office and should be told so by every constituent, whether
liberal or conservative. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of threatening to destroy the full faith and credit
of the United States, every member of Congress should stand up and tell us – in
detail – exactly which government programs he or she wants to eliminate, what
modifications to present rules and regulations they propose and how much the
government they propose to preserve will cost. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having done so, they should also tell us how
they propose to raise the money needed for the things they think we should
continue doing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unhappily, the message hasn’t gotten through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am writing this on Sunday, January 6<sup>th</sup>,
after having watched both Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi avoid any hint of
specificity when responding to questions on Face the Nation. Neither of these people is
stupid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. McConnell knows that the
government needs more revenue, and that to provide it everyone
is going to be required to pay more taxes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms. Pelosi knows that we cannot sustain
current levels of spending on Social Security, Medicare, and every other program she favors, however desirable
they may be in the abstract. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet neither
is prepared to speak the truth, for fear of offending the ideologically driven
“party base” to which each seeks to appeal. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s time – and long past time – for a real
conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of us needs to do
what we can to be sure that whoever represents us understands that we will no
longer tolerate generalities, ideologically driven rhetoric and dishonest
numbers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless we act, we will leave our children and grandchildren
an America that is a pale shadow of the great country we have been privileged
to enjoy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-85351274330907430282012-12-21T09:09:00.001-05:002012-12-21T09:09:41.890-05:00I WANT A LIST -- AND YOU SHOULD TOO <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">All day, every day, television screens across the nation are filled with talking heads and politicians blathering about the dreaded fiscal cliff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of them bother to make the point that a “deal” to avoid the fiscal cliff will do nothing to solve our long term financial problems, and all of them talk generalities, avoiding the unpleasant specifics. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">Virtually every politician seems determined to cut non- defense discretionary spending, although none are willing to specify which activities and agencies they want to eliminate or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>eviscerate, and none seem to know much about what they are proposing to cut or about what has already been done. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, a primer on a subject few of us know much about – and a word of warning that cutting such spending any further will likely have extremely unpleasant results. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">About two thirds of the federal budget consists of mandatory spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remaining one third is labeled discretionary, and about 60% of that is defense related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non-defense discretionary funding thus amounts to less than one half of one third of the federal budget, or about 15% in total. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">And that small slice of the budget pie has already been cut to levels well below the CBO baseline estimates that were in place when the 112 Congress took office in January of 2011. <u>Assuming the caps and projections now in place continue, and without considering the additional reductions mandated by the sequestration due to take effect at the end of this year, spending on discretionary non-military spending will decline by $1.5 trillion during the next ten years and will reach – at the end of the ten years -- the lowest level of spending as a percentage of GDP since record keeping began in 1976.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">Well, you say, is that bad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, if this is discretionary spending, maybe we can save the money and no one will notice. Here is a partial list of what’s paid for by discretionary non-military spending. </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The Veterans Administration, which is already doing a horrible job of caring for our fallen warriors, and needs more money, not less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>All Homeland Security Activities, including the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), which includes the Coast Guard and everything else in the homeland security system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The Federal Aviation Administration. </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Federal Bureau of Investigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The Drug Enforcement Agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The entire federal prison system, which is big since we insist on imprisoning a higher percentage of our population than any other advanced country. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Federal aid to local school districts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The Food and Drug Administration, which already does a very inadequate job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you still feel comfortable buying hamburger knowing that FDA does not inspect meat packers who grind feces along with meat? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The National Parks System.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Federal disaster relief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will we do about the next hurricane?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just leave people on their own? </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Federal low income housing programs </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Federal assistance to states and cities for clean water projects. </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 75.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>And lots else besides. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">These things are clearly important – and essential for many citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since there are few lobbyists working the halls of power on behalf of projects like this, politicians know they can get away with cutting things we need while protecting things we don’t need – like more overpriced defense systems. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;"><u>The cuts already made will leave the agencies and programs in this category $650 billion short, during the next 10 years, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of what’s needed to sustain per capita service levels equal to what was provided in 2012.</u> As programs and performance lag, we’ll all notice – but by then, many of the politicians now refusing to raise taxes and advocating these cuts as an alternative <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will be drawing their lifetime pensions and laughing at our collective foolishness. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">Do you think cutting essential services make sense?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think so, and I’ve asked my senators and representatives to send me a list of what they think they are cutting when they advocate less money for discretionary non- military spending. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you’ll do the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-64217831307457711712012-10-06T09:01:00.000-04:002012-10-06T09:01:26.408-04:00POTHOLES AND POVERTY - OR SOMETHING BETTER <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Recently, Congress acted to extend the 18.4
cent Federal gasoline tax to the end of March, 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that extending the tax was
contentious is a sad commentary on the lack of both planning and wisdom that
characterizes our national legislative process. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The tax, which has not been raised since
1983, is clearly inadequate. In 2008, the Highway Trust fund – which is the
fund intended to support transportation improvements in the U. S. – ran out of
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spending from the Trust Fund has exceeded
revenues since 2002.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Congress
has plugged the gap with revenues from the General fund, it has failed to come
up with an integrated plan – and a funding program –to assure adequate
maintenance of our existing assets and provide the improvements needed to
assure competitive capabilities in the years ahead. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Allowing the gasoline tax to lapse would,
among other things:</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Encourage
people to drive more, thus worsening the already severe congestion that
irritates us all – and costs more than $100 billion annually in extra fuel
costs. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Increase
our negative trade gap, and increase our<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>energy dependence<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Cost lots of jobs. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">1billion in
infrastructure spending supports about 25,000 jobs; if the tax lapses and we
stop spending, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be in immediate jeopardy. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Accelerate </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">the already severe deterioration of existing bridges and highways </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s hard to understand why anyone would even
consider allowing the tax to lapse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Americans pay far less for gasoline than driver’s in other countries,
and much less in fuel taxes as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
recent Simpson-Bowles Commission recommended an immediate 15 cent per gallon
increase in the tax; others have suggested more substantial increases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone except politicians seeking votes
seems to agree that our infrastructure needs immediate and substantial help. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is clear that it does – and that the
needed help will cost lots more than another 15 cents a gallon at the
pump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2008 the national Surface
Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission – a Congressional creation –
recommended spending at least $225 billion annually, far more than we now
spend. Various estimates put the bill for deferred maintenance of our highways
and bridges in the neighborhood of $2 trillion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In addition to needing lots more maintenance
on our roads and bridges, we also need an integrated plan to upgrade and expand
our capabilities in many areas. We need a plan that measures the adequacy of
our highways, mass transit capabilities, airports, ports, communication systems,
energy transmission systems,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>waste
facilities, water systems, hospitals, law enforcement facilities and
educational assets against those of other countries – and that provides for the
many and substantial<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>improvements needed
to put the U. S. back in a position of leadership. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Around the world, our competitors are
spending far larger shares of GDP on infrastructure improvements than the U. S.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brazil, India and China, are reportedly
spending more than $1trillion annually! And we are clearly falling behind. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In 2005, the World Economic Forum rated the
U. S. # 1 in economic competitiveness; today, we are ranked #15. Unless we fix
the problem, we’ll rank even lower in the years ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Solving the problem is a necessity if we want
the country and our kids to have a satisfactory future– and stepping up to that
necessity also represents an opportunity to solve one of today’s major
problems. If Congress and the President were to come up with a national
infrastructure plan this fall, and fund it at just $200 billion annually for
the next ten years, we’d generate about 5 million new jobs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although it is clear that $200 billion will
not be sufficient to meet the competitive challenge being mounted by others, it
will be enough to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>provide a big chunk of
the roughly 12 million jobs we’ll need during those ten years to put the
currently unemployed back to work and provide opportunities for new
workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, the economic activity
created and facilitated by that infrastructure investment will drive GDP growth,
create lots of additional employment opportunities and – hopefully – provide
the resources needed to build the capabilities not included in the initial
plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Some will doubtless say we can’t afford it. In
my view, these are investments we cannot afford to forego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, since we have spent or committed
between $3 and $5 trillion during the last ten years in Iraq, Afghanistan and
other military adventures – spending which has produced nothing and has yielded
neither assets nor infrastructure to support our future growth – I just don’t
buy the argument that we can’t find a way to finance the assets and
capabilities needed to assure a decent future for our kids and grandkids. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Those interested in a more comprehensive
examination of our infrastructure problem can find an excellent recent report
here: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/publications/falling-apart-falling-behind"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/publications/falling-apart-falling-behind</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-5831680456782384522012-10-06T07:31:00.000-04:002012-10-06T07:33:34.542-04:00ENOUGH ALREADY <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">recently came across a very sad and powerful video about the
impact of Agent Orange, a chemical which was heavily used by the US during the
Vietnam War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video gave me fresh
reason to doubt the truth of my long held hope that the US is the good guy in
any fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also led me to wonder if
anyone now thinks that saving the people of Vietnam from the “scourge of
Communism” was worth the price the Vietnamese people – and our own US veterans
of Vietnam – are now paying for providing that rescue. If you think it was,
watch <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<a href="http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/20452.html"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/20452.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">During
the Vietnam years, much was heard about the domino theory, the idea that if
Vietnam became a communist state, all of the neighboring states would topple,
like dominos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>60 years later, that
concern seems ludicrous. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Vietnam
we’ve moved on to other threats, including the topic of the day – an Iranian
nuclear weapon -- which many in Washington find so terrifying they seem willing
to start still another war to prevent Iran from succeeding. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">How
serious do you think that threat will seem 60 years from now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My guess is it will seem equally ludicrous, and
that the world by that time will have moved on to new concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
US has been either at war or fighting someone, somewhere, during most of my
lifetime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have been in Afghanistan
for more than a decade, and are only now ending our long involvement in Iraq. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, most of us don’t notice, for we no
longer ask our citizens to fight our wars – we have volunteers – and we don’t
bother to pay for them either. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">While
our leaders scrupulously avoid the subject, we all ought to pay attention, for
the costs of these engagements are stupefying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To date – as of September 30 – 6,579 US troops have died in these two
wars, and 49,871 have been wounded. In total, somewhere between 225,000 and
250,000 people – most of them civilians -- have died, another 350,000 have been
wounded and more than 7.8 million have been displaced. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Causing
all that damage has cost us enormous sums. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to a recently completed study by
Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, the wars have or
will cost $4.4 Trillion, not counting $1 Trillion in interest costs on the
money we’ve borrowed to pay the bills and excluding lots of other costs that
are very difficult to measure. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://costsofwar.org/</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Most
people have no idea of how much a trillion dollars – a thousand billion –
really is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A trillion dollars laid end
to end would reach the sun and if stacked one on another would make a pile 80
miles high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you spent a dollar a
second, a trillion dollars would last you 32,000 years. And a trillion dollars
will buy a lot of the things America needs as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A trillion dollars would pay the
salaries of every teacher in the country (about 2 million people) for roughly
nine years. It’s enough to hire 2.5 million people at $15.00 an hour for the
next 10 years (can you think of work for them to do?). It’s enough to write a
check for $3,400 to 300 million people (almost everyone in the US). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a gigantic number – and we’ve wasted more
than five times that much while killing or wounding more than 50,000 American
soldiers and accomplishing, so far as I can see, absolutely nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I’m
sick of war and the maiming and killing of our own and others’ kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m sick of hearing that we cannot afford
to repair our infrastructure, improve our educational system, pay for health
care, continue government research and development and develop our energy
resources to achieve independence – all the while dumping unthinkable sums in
foreign wars that achieve nothing. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">All
the carnage is a great waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World
military spending now amounts to about $1.63 Trillion, about 2.6% of world GDP
and approximately $263 for every person in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The United States spends about 41% of that
total – more than China, Russia, France, the UK and the next ten countries all
combined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We
all want to be safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we pulled in
our horns, let other people and other countries choose their own way, and
brought all our troops home, we could cut defense spending by 50% and maintain
armed forces formidable enough to discourage anyone who might think about
attacking us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think it’s time – and way past time – for us to do so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Enough
already. </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-28803240128337573712012-08-27T10:20:00.000-04:002012-08-27T10:20:45.224-04:00 A GREAT IDEA – LET’S DO IT<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Every now and then, an idea comes along that is so logical,
and contributes to solving so many problems, that you wonder why it hasn’t been
done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I saw an idea like that a couple of weeks ago, when I read
an op ed piece in the New York Times that would cut our military costs
dramatically, improve the performance of military support services, reduce the
probability of going to war, clean up some of our urban blight, solve some of
our infrastructure problems, provide needed services we now say we can’t
afford, make citizenship more meaningful to young people and go a long way
towards diminishing the very different worlds in which privileged and less
privileged young people live. </div>
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Here is a link to the piece: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/opinion/lets-draft-our-kids.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/opinion/lets-draft-our-kids.html</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span></div>
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Let’s hope the idea gets some momentum. </div>
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Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-85353241473772261032012-08-27T10:16:00.000-04:002012-08-27T10:16:13.754-04:00ONLY IN AMERICA <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every now and then you come across a fact that truly blows
the mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s one. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
26 CEO’s among the 100 highest paid corporate chief<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>executives made more money in 2011 than their
companies paid in federal income taxes in the same year. The group earned
average total compensation of $20.4 million, a 23 percent increase over the
average in the prior year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s the list:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Abbott
Laboratories</span></strong> (<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=ABT" target="_blank">NYSE:ABT</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Advanced Micro Devices</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=AMD" target="_blank">NYSE:AMD</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Altera</span></strong> (<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=ALTR" target="_blank">NASDAQ:ALTR</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">AIG</span></strong> (<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=AIG" target="_blank">NYSE:AIG</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Anadarko Petroleum</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=APC" target="_blank">NYSE:APC</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">AT&T</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=T" target="_blank">NYSE:T</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Boeing</span></strong> (<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=BA" target="_blank">NYSE:BA</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Broadcom</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=BRCM" target="_blank">NASDAQ:BRCM</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Chesapeake Energy</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=CHK" target="_blank">NYSE:CHK</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Citigroup</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=C" target="_blank">NYSE:C</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cooper Industries</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=CBE" target="_blank">NYSE:CBE</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Danaher</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=DHR" target="_blank">NYSE:DHR</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Devon Energy</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=DVN" target="_blank">NYSE:DVN</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">FirstEnergy</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=FE" target="_blank">NYSE:FE</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ford Motor</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=F" target="_blank">NYSE:F</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Halliburton</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=RIG" target="_blank">NYSE:HAL</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">International Paper</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=IP" target="_blank">NYSE:IP</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Leucadia National</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=LUK" target="_blank">NYSE:LUK</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marathon Oil</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=MRO" target="_blank">NYSE:MRO</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Marsh & McLennan</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=MMC" target="_blank">NYSE:MMC</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Motorola Mobility</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=GOOG" target="_blank">NASDAQ:GOOG</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Newell Rubbermaid</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=NWL" target="_blank">NYSE:NWL</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Salesforce.com</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=CRM" target="_blank">NYSE:CRM</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Travelers Companies</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=TRV" target="_blank">NYSE:TRV</a>)<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tyco International</span></strong>
(<a href="http://wallstwatchdog.com/company?symbol=TYC" target="_blank">NYSE:TYC</a>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Institute for Policy Studies, which produced the report,
makes the point that the US tax code includes lots of provisions encouraging
excess pay, including unlimited tax deductibility of executive pay, unlimited
deferred compensation, and preferential treatment of carried interest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>among others items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The study goes on to note that 19 of the 26 companies
operated subsidiaries in tax havens and that the firms, combined, operated a
total of 537 tax haven subsidiaries. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The report includes lots of other mind numbing figures,
including how much tax loopholes cost each of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, as you would expect, the report has
generated furious denials and denunciations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point in
every controversy, I lose interest in the detail and only want to know the
answer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this case, it seems to me that two conclusions are
crystal clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tax code is
completely screwed up and needs to be rewritten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And corporate America needs new governance
rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-59915245002645749292012-07-07T13:43:00.001-04:002012-07-07T13:43:29.900-04:00TIME TO FOCUS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">If you are anything like me, you spend part of every day in a rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost every news cycle brings word of some policy blunder, agency failure or political misbehavior worthy of outrage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily, our despair about all the small failings of the system lessens our focus on the two big things that simply must be done!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We must put our people back to work and we must come up with a plan to stop increasing our outstanding debts. Formulating and adopting credible plans to do both will put our economy back on track and restore our faith in the future. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We are in the grip of the worst crisis the western world has seen since World War II – and still our national leaders prevaricate, waffle, and sometimes tell outright lies. The performance of the political class is a terrible commentary on our own inattention to the quality of those we elect to lead our government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Neither party has a monopoly on poor leadership - both seem populated largely by people either unwilling to tell the truth or too stupid to recognize it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since some of them are demonstrably intelligent, I’ll go with the probability that most are driven primarily by ambition rather than stupidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They just want to get elected – and the hell with the welfare of the country. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">As we begin the run up to the November election, the president is touring the country pitching the idea that anyone earning more than a million dollars a year should pay at least 30% of his or her income to the federal government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I’m not opposed to that idea – in fact, I think 30% is too low -- but the amount that millionaires pay is not the issue. Anyone who understands the numbers – including the president – know that if everyone who makes more than a million dollars a year pays at least 30% to the federal government we won’t make any recognizable progress towards<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>balancing the budget and eliminating our huge annual deficits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a simple, graphic and powerful explanation of just how big the problem is, watch <span style="color: black;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW5IdwltaAc&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW5IdwltaAc&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew5idwltaac&feature=youtu.be</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The last year in which total US debt declined was 1957, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bill Clinton almost balanced the budget in 2000, but fell about $18 Billion short. In every other year, government spending has substantially exceeded government revenues, and the debt has increased. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We ignore efficiency and refuse to impose accountability. We spend too much on things we do not need and tax ourselves too lightly to pay for the things we do need. We keep our national books wrong – even kids know that investing and spending are not the same – and none of us pay enough attention to how government manages our money. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I don’t believe that anyone who has spent any time in or involved with Washington is likely to argue that government is efficient, a view underscored by our unwillingness to do such simple things as holding government contractors to the terms of their contracts, ending <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Medicare fraud and collecting all the taxes that are due. These are simple things which competent people should be able to do without difficulty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily, we seem unwilling to learn enough about what goes on in Washington to hold administrators and lawmakers to normal standards of performance. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Since our political leaders seem to have little interest in anything beyond proving their opponents more guilty of “waste and inefficiency” than themselves, and since the two parties have completely different views about what we “need” from government, our political life seems to consist entirely of shouting matches about venality and error rather than discussions about solutions.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We need to focus on finding short term ways to stimulate demand – and jobs – and crafting a long term plan to match revenues and spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Fixing our broken income tax system, which simply does not work, will be essential to meeting either of those goals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our current tax regulations encompass 44,000 pages, 5.5 million words and over 750 forms. The code is full of loopholes and gimmicks, cannot be understood by people without special knowledge and training, generates too little revenue to pay the federal government’s bills and imposes huge compliance costs on everyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Congress keeps cutting the IRS budget, so we don’t collect about 15% of what is owed – which amounts to a shortfall of about $385 billion per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">To raise the money we need, everyone is going to have to pay more. We need to eliminate the ability of individuals to deduct mortgage interest on huge homes and vacation properties. We need to stop letting companies pay health care premiums while allowing the employees who benefit to exclude those payments from their reported income. We need to insist that everyone who employs household workers make the required contributions for Social Security and Medicare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to acknowledge that it makes no sense to allow hedge fund managers to report their compensation as capital gains.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">People who want to solve the problem need to acknowledge that we don’t pay as much in taxes as most other countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year, Americans paid about $2.62 trillion in federal taxes and $1.42 trillion in state and local taxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our collective income came in at about $14 trillion, which means an average tax rate of a bit more than 29%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A 2008 survey put the composite tax rate at 27.3%, much lower than the average of 36.2% paid by all OECD countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most Western European countries run in the low to mid 40% range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among OECD countries, only Turkey, Chile and Mexico have lower overall rates than the US. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Those on the right seek to mislead by claiming our 39% corporate tax rate is too high, despite knowing full well that actual corporate taxes in the US average roughly 12%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many companies pay even less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On April 29<sup>th</sup>, the NY Times published a study revealing that Apple paid a rate of only 9.8% on the almost $35 billion it earned in 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is clearly not Apple’s fair share!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Critics like to point out that some other countries have lower statutory rates, and they are correct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in other countries, actual tax rates and statutory tax rates are closer to the same than in the US, which makes lots more sense to me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The bottom line is that we need to raise taxes, and sooner or later, we will do so. I think everyone is Washington knows that and although a few will acknowledge it, most will deny it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone needs to step up and get the job done, since waiting just makes the problem worse and the solution more painful. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Everyone in government – on the left and on the right -also needs to acknowledge that there must be big spending cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some will result from greater efficiency – doing more with fewer resources – and some will come from giving up some of the programs we think we “need”. A big piece will have to come from Defense, since we spend far more than any other country in total and per capita. Another big piece will have to come from modifying Social Security and Medicare, which can be means tested and age adjusted without imposing too much pain on anyone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither Democrats nor Republicans will be happy – but both have an obligation to set aside their ideology and get the job done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Happily, there is a plan available. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not long after he was elected, the president appointed the Simpson – Bowles Commission, which came up with a solid plan to substantially reduce our deficits by cutting costs and raising taxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappily, because it included lots of unpopular things, both the President and the Congress ignored its recommendations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time for everyone to set ideology aside, endorse the Simpson-Bowles recommendations and thus lay down a marker that America is serious about fixing its problems. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">While adopting a plan that will curb deficits in the long term, we need to make sure we invest enough in the short term to stimulate the economy and put people back to work. We can do so by providing funding to make good on the $2 billion infrastructure maintenance deficit we’ve accumulated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Building and repairing roads, fixing our dams and bridges, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>creating a 21<sup>st</sup> century energy distribution network, bringing water and sewer systems up to date, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and making needed repairs to our schools <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is different from spending on current consumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These investments, which will generate lots of decent jobs, will also lay the foundation needed to keep the US competitive and growing in the years ahead. Balancing the budget in the short term is less important than revitalizing our economy; balancing the budget in the long term is essential to restoring confidence in the future and assuring continuing prosperity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Doing all this would make lots of people mad, and will doubtless mean that some politicians will lose their next election. However, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect that those politicians courageous and smart enough to offer credible plans will win more often than they lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The public isn’t as stupid as the politicians seem to believe. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public knows that the government can be run more efficiently but also knows that even an efficiently run government needs sufficient<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>resources to defend the country, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>safeguard our food supply, regulate our financial institutions, defend our environment, sustain and improve the country’s infrastructure, provide a first rate education for every child<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and sustain the social safety net. The public knows that we cannot balance the budget by spending cuts alone. I think most people also know that allowing the planned year end spending sequester to occur, refusing to stimulate employment by investing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in refurbishing the infrastructure and having another pointless debate about raising the debt ceiling will weaken our already fragile confidence and will<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>likely to drive the country into recession.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Most politicians know all this as well, but seem so obsessed with ambition that they continue to prevaricate, waffle and lie. The President, Governor Romney and our congressional leaders steadfastly avoid fulfilling the responsibilities of the leadership roles they all seek so avidly. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Meanwhile, on July 3<sup>rd</sup>, only a day before our national holiday, the Director of the International Monetary Fund warned of the need for a fiscal course correction in the United States. What a disgrace!! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It’s clearly time to focus – and since the politicians won’t do it without encouragement, it’s up to us to push them along. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">To get it done, we all need to pay more attention, study more carefully, participate more fully and complain more loudly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we don’t, our kids and grandkids will pay the price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-68056143863665894452012-04-13T18:41:00.001-04:002012-04-13T18:41:08.432-04:00WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Last summer, I built a new home in Gloucester, Ma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I did not want to use fuel oil, and since many of my neighbors have natural gas in their homes, I asked National Grid, the local natural gas provider, to run a line to my new house. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No way, said National Grid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a long way – about a quarter mile – and it’s very expensive and we won’t do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, as an alternative, I installed a geothermal system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It cost a lot, but I got a tax break, and I don’t have to burn fuel oil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, most people can’t afford such systems and end up burning oil, much of which we refine from petroleum we buy on world markets from countries that seem to dislike us intensely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It was a very irritating experience, and since we do not have natural gas available at my home in Florida either, it got me thinking about why natural gas is so hard to get. After all that cogitating, I concluded that like many who will read this, I just don’t understand. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be, of course, that the experts are right, and the great issues of the day really are too complicated for me to understand. Then again, it may be that we’re stuck with a political system that simply refuses to take on the tough problems we need to solve. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Take the price of gasoline, for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The press – newspapers, talking heads, political “experts” – are full of conversation about how the President’s electoral chances are being adversely affected <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by the price of gasoline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, no one bothers to explain just what it is the President can do about gasoline prices, and no one seems to care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like all things, anything bad must be someone else’s fault – in this case, the President’s fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">And there is, of course, no conversation at all about the things we could actually do to reduce automobile fuel costs <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>other national problems like unemployment and energy independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that the folks we send to Washington are great at raising money and spouting slogans and lousy at coming up with solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">So maybe someone can explain why we don’t take advantage of our huge deposits of natural gas to solve several problems more or less simultaneously. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, let’s pass legislation requiring every company that provides natural gas to homes and businesses to connect any home or business that wants gas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already require telephone companies to provide universal service, and we all pay for uneconomic telephones with those pesky surcharges on our phone bills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there some reason we cannot require universal natural gas service, and recapture the costs associated with installing the lines via service charges on all users? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Installing all those gas lines – and additional pipelines to move gas around the country – would generate lots of jobs, which we certainly need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the economics of oil vs. natural gas, making natural gas service universally available will cause a lot more people to heat their homes with gas, which is currently selling at record low prices and for far less than its price in other countries. When we’ve done those things, we will have put a lot of people back to work, generated lots of jobs, saved consumers lots of money and taken a big step towards energy independence. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">While we’re at it, it would be sensible to pass legislation requiring every filling station to have at least one natural gas fueling point and additional legislation requiring that all cars manufactured in the United States after 2015 be equipped to run on either natural gas or petroleum derivative gasoline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still more jobs, a much higher level of energy independence, and much lower fuel prices for drivers. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">I’m sure there are people who would oppose these steps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The automobile manufacturers would tell us that making cars dual fuel capable would be very expensive, while the oil companies would no doubt proclaim that mandating natural gas for cars is state socialism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the natural gas providers would no doubt claim that they cannot possibly live with the adverse cash flows associated with fronting the cost of installing gas lines to all those houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my view, none of those objections hold much water, since the public benefits of these changes would be huge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">What do you think?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are such solutions really beyond us? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-21404510754805872842012-03-26T10:38:00.000-04:002012-03-26T10:38:46.191-04:00LEARN A LITTLE - PAY A LOT. WE CAN DO BETTER<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"> I’d guess that many of you, like me, have been awestruck by what it costs to send a kid to college these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year at a top school costs more than I made until I was more than 15 years out of graduate school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Even worse, many of the kids aren’t learning much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In January of 2011, Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia published a study entitled “Academically Adrift”. The study revealed that 45% of four year college students from the class of 2009 “did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning” during the first two years of college and that 36% had the same outcome after completing their entire college career!! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s not surprising given the very modest academic requirements college administrators impose on their students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In recent studies, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has found that 95% of schools do not require students to take a basic course in Economics, despite the fact that without a basic grasp of the subject, it’s impossible for citizens to understand the world they live in. 85% of schools do not require an intermediate-level grasp of a foreign language, 80% do not require a basic course in American history, 62% do not require a course in either world or western literature, and 34% do not require a college level mathematics course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And 16% of our colleges do not even require a basic course in English composition – which explains why so many college graduates cannot write coherently.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As an alternative to the core requirements most of us remember from our college days, schools now offer hundreds of alternatives that students can use to satisfy what most schools characterize as distribution requirements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, this proliferation of courses is a major factor in driving costs ever higher, since employing professors who choose to teach highly specialized courses drives up total academic salaries and decreases academic productivity. </div><div class="MsoNormal">In addition to driving up costs, the proliferation of courses calls into question whether students who do not participate in a common core of academic preparation<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can achieve<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the presumed objectives of education – acquiring a broad knowledge of subjects relevant to being a citizen, a voter and a participant in an economic life which is more changeable than static.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">At the University of Wisconsin, for example, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the “Humanities, Literature and the Arts” requirement can be satisfied with courses on “Costume Design II”, “Introduction to Television” and “Critical Internet Studies”. At San Francisco State, students who do not want to take “Introduction to World Literature” to satisfy the “Humanities and Creative Arts” requirement can substitute “Arts and Crafts for Leisure” or “Contemporary Design in Housing and Interiors”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list of absurd choices is endless. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, colleges continue to build new facilities, despite their underutilization of existing facilities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do so, colleges typically incur debt, which must be covered with higher tuition charges. At universities across the country, buildings sit empty on many days. The Saturday and Monday classes we all dreaded during our college years have disappeared, as instructors and students express their preference for light workloads and short weeks by jamming classes into the preferred Tuesday to Thursday window. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In January of 2012, reacting to a report that highlighted the proliferation of academic programs and the University of Maine’s seemingly insatiable appetite for new construction, the board of trustees <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>froze tuition for in- state residents. For the first time in 25 years, Maine residents will not see a tuition hike at their state university. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">As we all know, one of our society’s problems is the number of people graduating from college – or attending but not graduating – who are burdened with enormous debts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many factors contribute to this problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is the inadequacy of career counseling and the unavailability of good apprenticeship programs to direct those without academic inclinations to schools where they can acquire the skills needed for high technology manufacturing and the many skilled trades. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another is the inclination of parents to push students who are not college- ready to enroll in programs they cannot complete. Still another is the willingness of colleges and universities to encourage students to use readily available taxpayer- funded loan programs to fill out their enrollment requirements. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Many students incur debt and never graduate, thus handicapping themselves both academically and financially for the years ahead. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among those who graduate, the scarcity of good jobs and the burden of their debts drive many home to their parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even for those able to live independently, however, substantial debt breeds insecurity and risk aversion among the young people we hope will start businesses and explore new technologies, thus reducing the dynamism of our society and the presumed value of higher education. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is another problem as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As costs have soared and the number of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>indebted graduates has risen, many able students have chosen not to take on the financial burden required to finance <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the education they need to achieve their full potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our country’s future depends on an educated and capable work force; we cannot afford to bypass the capabilities of the many young people now opting out of higher education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Is there a solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, but like most problems, this one requires that more of us get involved. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone with a stake in higher education – citizens, taxpayers, prospective students, students, parents and grandparents – needs to insist on a much higher level of accountability from the administrators and trustees of our colleges and universities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When considering attending or contributing to a school, we need to ask harder and more insightful questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there a rigorous core curriculum? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it include all the essential academic components? How many hours does the typical professor teach per week and how is academic productivity measured?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many new programs have been opened during the last 10 years and how many have been discontinued?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the occupancy levels of academic buildings by day of the week? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What percentage of revenues flows to administrative costs, what percentage is devoted to instruction and how have those percentages changed during the last 5 years? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You can find out more about the problem – and solutions – by visiting the web site of ACTA, the American Council Trustees and Alumni, where you can find copies of “What will they Learn”, from which I’ve gleaned<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>many of the facts in this note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.goacta.org/">www.go<b>acta</b>.org/</a><cite><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></cite><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among other things, a quick pass through the web site will give you a much clearer understanding about what you are buying when you write your next check and a better idea of how you can provide guidance for the students and prospective students in your family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-58170363906392575452011-11-01T21:11:00.000-04:002011-11-01T21:11:23.949-04:00What will it take?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">These days, there is little good news and lots of bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost every day brings reports of dishonesty, inhumanity, incompetence, or indifference so inconsistent with our image of ourselves and our country that it makes the blood boil. There is so much bad news that the rage it generates is dissipated by its pervasiveness. It’s hard to choose which of the many <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>horrible conditions and events we hear about is worst and equally difficult to decide which of many possible causative events is the most likely underlying cause of our many problems. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know things have gone seriously wrong, but we’re just not sure what we should or can do about it. So most of us, uncertain about the facts and unsure of how to proceed, wait and hope for clarity. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It makes one wonder what it will take to move us to action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Every now and then, someone breaks through with a summary which makes clear just how bad things are. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last weekend, Charles Blow reported on a recent study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation in Germany. The Foundation has done a comparison of social conditions in the 34 countries that belong to the OECD – The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 years ago, I would have expected the United States to be the leader in most categories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we have clearly abandoned policies that will produce leadership in a host of areas – education, health care, economic equality, and our physical infrastructure among others – I no longer cling to the illusion that we are leaders --- but I was not prepared for a scorecard as bad as what turned up. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The study ranks the 34 OECD member countries in nine areas: Social Justice, Poverty Prevention, Overall Poverty Rate, Child Poverty Rate, Senior Citizen Poverty Rate, Income Inequality, Pre-Primary Education and Health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In five of the nine areas, the United States ranks among the bottom five countries – which means there are at least 29 that do better! In two areas – Senior Citizen Poverty and Pre-Primary Education – we rank in the bottom 10, which means there are at least 24 that do better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in Health, we rank in the bottom 15, which means there at least 19 – and probably more, since we don’t know our exact rank – that do better.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It’s a very troubling scorecard, which unhappily corroborates<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>similar results produced by other studies. We’ve heard before that despite spending far more per citizen than other countries, our health care results are worse than those of countries that spend lots less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also know that our educational system is failing our kids, and that our academic results are falling further and further behind those of countries with more rigorous, if less expensive, educational systems. And the National Academy of Science has told us very clearly that our infrastructure is no longer competitive and that we are more than $2 trillion in arrears on maintenance spending alone – much less what we should have been spending on new facilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Things have reached the point where about the only area in which we lead is defense spending, which is not buying the assets needed to produce the kinds of society we want to leave our kids and grandkids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Excessive defense spending also begs the question of whether the values we are supposedly protecting from others are being eroded away by our political system here at home. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">It is increasingly difficult to find any course of action on which a majority of Americans agree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do seem to agree that our political system has failed – barely 10% think well of Congress and less than a majority think the President is doing a good job. The” all for one and one for all” spirit of years past has vanished and we seem moribund, unable to agree on either what the problem is or how to fix it. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Whatever else we do, we must find a way to come together again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need a political structure that will produce a government we can trust and a plan to restore America that we can agree on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a tall order and one that seem increasingly out of reach of our bickering politicians. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">But as a wise man once said, the longest journey begins with a single step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my view, a big part of our problem can be attributed to the fact that we have less common interests than we had in times past, that too many of us see the other guy as too different from ourselves to be reasoned with, and likely part of a social strata that is either beneath us or one to which we can no longer aspire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big part of the America I grew up in was the almost universal belief that anyone could do anything if they really wanted to – and since many of us badly wanted to improve ourselves, the system produced lots of social and geographic mobility. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">One of the things that has cost us our common interest is the steadily increasing inequality of wealth and income in America. In today’s America, the top 1% takes 17% of all income, while the bottom half of the population gets only 13% -- the worst disparity since 1929.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless things change soon, the country will suffer from even worse inequality 10 years hence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Increasing inequality has serious social and economic implications to which our increasingly ideological mind sets have paid far too little attention. If you are interested knowing more about those consequences, and how they are contributing to our many difficulties, you might want to spend 15 minutes listening to Richard Wilkinson go through some very impressive data laying out how income inequality has impacted societies around the world. You can find his talk at <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html</span></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">My own view is that in one way or another – there are various alternatives available – we must reduce both income and wealth inequality, and re-ignite the spirit of the common good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing so will not be easy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">We are in the midst of a political campaign – they seem <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to have become perpetual – during which we should be having substantive discussions of why things are as they are. Unhappily, our prospective leaders assiduously avoid all serious subjects and seem focused on nothing beyond attacking one another about various and sundry trivia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more troubling is the emergence of political action groups of every stripe, handsomely funded by special interests whose financial contributions are no longer limited by law. Unless I miss my guess, this year’s campaign will be the most expensive ever, and it will be even more difficult than it has been in the past for citizens to gather substantive information or for candidates to speak truth. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">This problem isn’t going to be fixed unless we – the citizens of the great United States of America – fix it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of us needs to set aside our ideological pre-convictions, gather information from many sources (including those ideologically inconsistent with our own views), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>think carefully, discuss and debate more openly than we have in the past, formulate possible solutions – and insist that those who seek to lead deal with the substance of the country’s problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no other way back to greatness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-17702455051804894172011-09-28T15:23:00.000-04:002011-09-28T15:23:33.438-04:00JUST THE FACTS PLEASE<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I often have the feeling that our politicians are akin to the street hustlers who like to lure passerby into shell games of “keep your eye on the pea”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these folks have astonishing skills, and it’s virtually impossible to track the pea as it moves from one shell to another – and is most often clandestinely palmed in any case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow or another, the pea never seems to be where the eye and logic say it ought to be, and the tourist or passerby lured into the game always loses his or her wager. So long as you play for small stakes on a nice day, it’s a pretty harmless way to pit your skills against the shills who run and surround the table. </span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Unhappily, our political leaders – who are supposed to articulate and explain solutions - have become shills on a grand scale. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day after day, they seek to conceal truth with self-serving and ideological statements that bear little relationship to fact and make it impossible for citizens to either reach sensible conclusions on public policy issues or hold leaders accountable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Let’s examine some of the rhetoric we’ve been hearing about the President’s recent proposals on taxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">According to John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, the proposals are nothing but a collection of “job killing small business tax hikes”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rick Perry thinks the proposals “penalize investment when it is needed most” and Mitt Romney has denounced the plan as having “a crushing impact on economic growth” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Now, be sure to keep your eye on the pea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The facts are that the proposed taxes, which only partially reverse the individual rates introduced by the so called Bush tax cuts, apply to business profits, not business revenues, and thus have no impact whatever on the ability of any business, large or small, to conduct business. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, studies done by the Joint Committee on Taxation and by the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization, show that less than 3 percent of filers with small business income pay <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the top two income tax rates, and many of those who do <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are doctors and lawyers in partnerships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the number of true small employers who would be impacted by the proposed changes is miniscule. All other businesses would be unaffected!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That doesn’t sound like a job killer to me – and it’s not. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Repeated surveys by various business groups establish that the primary reason business is not investing and hiring is that demand is weak. It’s hard to see how it could be otherwise, because there are some 15 million Americans who cannot find work, the Federal governments various efforts at stimulation are gradually going away and state and local governments are laying off employees. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, U.S. median real (that is, adjusted for inflation) household income is lower than it was in 2000 and real average hourly earnings are now lower than they were in 1970, more than 40 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, the U. S. has become one of the least egalitarian of all the world’s developed societies, with the top 1% of the population controlling a higher percentage of wealth and claiming a higher percentage of income than has been true since 1929.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s pretty clear that the Bush tax cuts didn’t accomplish much beyond increasing annual deficits and our steadily accumulating debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the years since 2000, employment and income growth have slowed or stopped, debt has skyrocketed, the economy has slipped into recession and we have endured an extraordinarily weak recovery that now seems likely to give way to still another period of recession. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Taken together, the Bush tax cuts reduced the government’s tax revenues by about $1.8 trillion between 2002 and 2009 and if extended for another decade, will reduce government revenues by an additional $3.8 trillion. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The President’s proposals, taken together, which do not roll back all the elements of the Bush tax cuts, would raise about $1.6 trillion during the next ten years, recovering only a portion of what a full repeal would raise. The President’s proposal would raise the top two marginal rates to 36 percent and 39.6 percent from the 33 percent and 35 percent rates in effect today. It would also restore the estate tax, raise the capital gains tax on wealthy individuals from 15 percent to 20 percent, limit the value of deductions for wealthy taxpayers and increase corporate taxes by eliminating tax breaks now enjoyed by oil companies, the coal industry and other businesses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of these proposals are draconian, none are inconsistent with tax rates and provisions in effect in the early 90’s, and none are likely to have any meaningful impact on private sector investment. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But, say the shills, raising taxes will limit the willingness of the wealthy to invest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that true? To tell the truth, I don’t know, but I am struck by the fact that those who shout the loudest never offer any evidence, but merely assert what they apparently believe is obvious. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have looked high and low for any careful study of this question and haven’t found anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own view is that if the capital gains rate went up to the old 28% -- which is about 10 points less than the proposed maximum individual <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>income tax rate – it would have no adverse impact whatever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think taxing capital gains at a marginally lower rate than wage income makes sense because some portion of the “gain” an investor realizes over time is simply inflation, which should not be taxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, if an investor has money he or she wants to put to work, the probability that the tax on any gain realized will be 28% rather than 15% isn’t going to cause me – or anyone else, in my view – to put the money under the mattress or buy a very low yielding CD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Add it all up and it seems to me that raising taxes on the richest Americans, and on those individuals and corporations who enjoy the largest tax breaks, would give the government more ammunition with which to fund programs to ameliorate the adverse impacts being caused by excessive debt and a lack of jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-73741825775018073152011-09-20T15:10:00.000-04:002011-09-20T15:10:35.731-04:00MYOPIA AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ... WHY THE KIDS HAVE LITTLE TO LOOK FORWARD TOIn recent days, there has been a fair amount of publicity about the little town of West Pittston, Pennsylvania. The story is pretty simple. In 1990, after suffering floods from time to time, the town had a referendum as to whether it should join other cities along the Susquehanna River and build a levee to protect itself from flooding. For various reasons – including a desire to preserve their lovely water views – the residents voted no. Now that the view has given way to the flood, residents are asking themselves just what their predecessors were thinking – or smoking – that led them to opt for a view rather than a levee. <br />
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I think the story is a reasonably apt analogy of what we have been doing in the United States for the last 20 years or so. After World War II, the United States used its resources to build a powerful economy by investing in its educational system, in its infrastructure and in lots of public and privately funded research and development. We also encouraged immigration, thus regularly leavening society with ambitious new citizens. <br />
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In those days, we had – for whatever reason – a collective understanding that investing for the future would create continuing opportunities for future generations. These days we cannot seem to distinguish between investing and spending, seem focused on consumption rather than production and appear unwilling to recognize that failing to invest will leave future generations without the capabilities required to succeed in an ever more competitive world. <br />
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In the early 1950’s, we were spending nearly 5% of our GDP on infrastructure, while simultaneously laying other foundations for the success of future generations. We built the best educational system on the planet, created world class communication capabilities, encouraged research and development by both government and industry, urged businesses to increase manufacturing and distribution productivity, and built transportation systems able to move goods into, out of and within the country quickly and efficiently. These days, we spend less than 2% of GDP on infrastructure, and would need to spend $2 trillion just to repair what we have allowed to deteriorate. Since we have never created an adequate funding structure, there seems little hope we will find the money needed. Moreover, we have no effective mechanism to plan for the additional roads, bridges, water and septic systems, airports, mass transit systems, electrical distribution capabilities, and other things our kids and grandkids will need in future years. <br />
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Hardly a day goes by in which we are not reminded, in one way or another, of the growing consequences of our myopia. Our schools are turning out students unable to compete with students from other countries. Our electrical distribution grid is so heavily loaded that whole sections of the country go dark in response to minor problems at single facilities. We remain dependent on other countries, many of them actively hostile, for major portions of our energy. Our prisons hold a larger percentage of our population than do the prisons of any other country. Ever larger traffic jams rob industry and individuals of thousands of productive hours. The inflation adjusted median income of our workers is lower than it was 20 years ago. 46 million citizens live below the preposterous poverty line of $22,314 for a family of four. 50 million citizens lack health insurance. 15 million people are unemployed. Our debt is out of hand, our annual deficits are enormous and our future obligations exceed the nation’s net worth. <br />
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Despite these awful realities, we seem unable to grasp the reality of our situation. We continue to choose leaders who talk in ideological generalities instead of specific solutions. We insist on injecting irrelevant social issues into a political dialogue that should be focused on our economic future and we seem determined to drown out any voice that offers solutions alien to our own beliefs. <br />
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As I write this, the airways are alive with talking heads denouncing the president’s jobs bill, which incorporates provisions for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Does any serious person doubt that the government needs more revenue? Can serious people dispute the reality that in the early 1990’s, when the wealthy paid higher taxes, we had a more productive and more successful society? <br />
I think the answer to those questions is no. Does that mean we can solve all our problems with higher taxes? Of course not. But to solve our problems, we cannot eliminate government, which can do things individual citizens cannot do. Only government can regulate food safety. Only government can build infrastructure. Only government can provide public education. Only government can provide for the national defense. Only government can regulate commerce. And all those things, and many others, need to be done. <br />
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Right now, because the economy is in very bad shape, there is a particular need for government. We have 15 million unemployed Americans, and a sadly lacking infrastructure. Back in 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt confronted a similar situation, he put people to work in federal agencies whose works endure to this day. Is there some reason we can’t put our people back to work rebuilding what has slipped away? If there is, I don’t know what it is. The talking heads would call it a socialist idea – I call it common sense. <br />
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But government can become too big – and too expensive – and it is both today. We cannot pay public employees more than taxpayers in the private sector earn for similar work. We cannot assuage every politician’s desire to accommodate every constituent and lobbyist. We cannot spend multiples of what others do on defense, and we cannot be the world’s policeman. We cannot assure everyone in America of a good life – only a chance at a good life. We cannot cure every disease, perform every procedure, and provide every drug that anyone may want. There are limits. <br />
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We must limit the reach and scope of government, but we must do so without depriving it of the resources needed to perform its essential functions. To make sensible choices, citizens must gather knowledge, and to do that, we must do more than listen to the talking heads. We must study newspapers, read books, attend seminars, listen to our neighbors and be open to alternative opinions. We must use the web to dig for facts. We must write to and talk with those we elect to every level of government, and we must be willing to devote a lot of time and attention to these important issues. In short, we must be lots more involved than we are. <br />
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If enough of us are willing to do those things, we’ll find a way out of the current morass. If we aren’t willing, things will continue as they have, to the detriment of our kids and grandkids. <br />
I hope we’ll choose to fix the problem rather than follow failed leaders towards the unhappy future their performance promises.Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-78853748377242881742011-09-11T09:49:00.000-04:002011-09-11T09:49:24.544-04:00MORONS ... OR SOMETHING BETTER?I grew up in a country I was proud of and that held out the promise of opportunity to everyone.<br />
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I remember delivering newspapers when I was 12 or 13, and generally admiring whoever was Mayor, Governor or President and agreeing with most of what they were doing. I remember being proud of our victories in World War II and of what we had collectively accomplished by becoming “the arsenal of democracy”, being embarrassed when others got into orbit first and proud when we were first to the moon, being awed by all the new roads, dams, buildings and technology being developed and built, being a bit star struck when I first saw New York. I remember traveling in various parts of the world and being proud that America was a country trusted and admired by most of those we met. <br />
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I remember political arguments too – Dewey and Truman, Kennedy and Nixon, Reagan and Carter, and other memorable contests. There were always conflicting opinions within the family and among friends, and there were lots of heated arguments – but politics was something widely and often discussed. Almost everyone read the newspapers, it wasn’t considered rude to bring up politics at a dinner party and everyone was expected to have an opinion – and some facts to support it. And though everyone felt strongly, most people wanted to be – and were -- polite. <br />
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I went to work when I was 15, and there were plenty of jobs for any kid willing to work. And most kids did want to work, since there weren’t many families passing out big allowances or new cars in that America. Most people had enough money, but very few had lots and everyone was awestruck when it came out that some big shot had made a million dollars in a single year. Almost everyone I knew, except a very few rich kids, went to public schools and if the school didn’t do a good job, the parents were all over the principal and the teachers to get things fixed. <br />
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The America I grew up in is gone, and won’t ever come back. As nostalgic as I am from time to time, I also remember that we didn’t have Novocain in those days and I know full well that the politicians of my youth were not inherently better than those who lead today. But there are important aspects of that old America we should all be loath to do without – particularly its ability to build facilities that were the envy of the world, to offer its citizens a best in the world education, to offer abundant jobs and opportunities, and to inspire collective action by an involved citizenry. <br />
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But if we want to reclaim those abilities, we are going to have to stop behaving like morons and begin to speak up about the many and obvious lies we hear from our present and aspiring leaders. <br />
Only morons continue to accept statements that are clearly not true. Our politicians – already engaged in another round of the seemingly endless Presidential campaign – this time for an election still 14 months in the future – continue to say things that few if any believe: <br />
• We are told that recovery is around the corner when it is clear that we are either in or about to enter yet another recession and that real prosperity won’t return for many years – and only then if we make major changes soon. <br />
• We are told that jobs can be created by further tax cuts despite the clear reality that our problem is insufficient demand, not a lack of supply. Lenders and companies have ample funds but too few customers – jobs, not lower taxes, build consumer confidence and capability. <br />
• We are told that regulations are strangling our producers, and there are doubtless some excess regulations and some over-zealous regulators. Overall, however, there is clear evidence that ineffective and inadequate regulation empowered those who caused the financial crisis, and that effective regulation is needed to assure safe food, clean water and clean air.<br />
• We are told that Medicare costs must be cut, but our government continues to deny Medicare the right to demand that U. S. drug companies sell it their products at the same prices they charge foreign health care providers or to build a system and staff of quality inspectors to stamp out the billions of dollars of fraud perpetrated against the system. <br />
• We are told we cannot afford to maintain the nation’s infrastructure – our roads, bridges, airports, water and sewer systems, electrical grid, etc. – despite the fact that allowing it to disintegrate will make it impossible for us to compete successfully with other, better equipped countries in the years ahead and doom future generations to an ever lower standard of living. <br />
• We are told that we must spend less on education and must not impose a national educational curriculum despite clear evidence that our children are learning less well than children in other countries. <br />
• We are told that taxes must be cut still further, despite the fact that our government is spending more than it has on services we collectively demand and despite the fact that income inequality is greater than it has been since 1929 and is steadily getting worse. <br />
• We are told that our tax code is too complex – who would not agree – but we lack the will to simplify by eliminating the thousands of pages of regulations that define the many special interest deductions, exemptions and credits.<br />
• We are told that Social Security benefits will exceed Social Security tax receipts sometime soon, but lack the will to increase taxes and adjust benefits to safeguard the nation’s most fundamental safety net. <br />
<br />
We all know that what the politicians are saying simply isn’t so. Yet we are increasingly unwilling to talk to one another about our problems, preferring instead to mimic the ideological incantations of the talking heads, whether liberal or conservative. It hasn’t occurred to most of us, apparently, that the words have little meaning and less import. We don’t need labels, we need solutions. Some of those solutions will be “liberal” while others will be “conservative”, and it really doesn’t matter what we call them. To find answers, we need to climb down from our ideological bandwagons and engage one another in real conversations about middle ground solutions that will solve our problems. <br />
<br />
We can create a better America, but only if we start tuning out the false messages and focus on the fact that if we want our country to do better, it’s going to take a huge collective effort. <br />
The first step should be to recognize that there is no easy way out of our present problem. We have dug a deep ditch, and to get out, we are going to have to stop digging, and change our ways. <br />
For some time, until we recapture the vitality that has always characterized our country, everyone is going sacrifice something and we will have to coalesce to insist on some major changes:<br />
• Most will pay higher taxes. Like it or not, our government cannot provide the package of services we collectively want without more revenue. Hopefully, we will simplify the tax code, chop out all the loopholes and deductions, and adjust rates to produce the funds we need while simultaneously reducing the enormous inequality that has crept into our country. We’ll raise more money, improve productivity by saving millions of man hours now devoted to filling out tax forms and have some modest impact on equality.<br />
• Some will sacrifice leisure, and either go back to work or seek a second job. Many will sacrifice the larger car, the larger house, or the second home they covet. Some will eat at home more often and many will have to spend more time working to improve the performance of their local school than they would prefer. Everyone will have to either use less or pay more for energy. <br />
• We need to move fast to get America back up to speed. We’re about $2 trillion behind in maintaining our infrastructure, and the very first thing we should do is create a big public/private infrastructure bank and use it to put several million Americans back to work fixing and building the facilities we will need to make America #1 again. <br />
• We need to get our kids back in the game by teaching them more intensively than we have been doing. We need a national educational curriculum administered by attentive local authorities. We need more mathematics and more science, more demanding vocational training programs, longer school days and years, and better teachers. It will cost more – but is there a better investment than our kids? <br />
• We need a national energy program to free the country from dependence on others. We need to use the Infrastructure Bank to build a better electrical distribution grid. We need legislation to require more intensive use of natural gas, higher gasoline taxes to discourage excess gasoline use and better public transportation options. <br />
• We need to fix Medicare. Requiring drug makers to offer Medicare their lowest prices and stamping out fraud are both easy to do – and both will yield enormous savings. To take advantage of Medicare’s low administrative costs, we should offer every citizen the option of joining. While some may choose private insurers, I think most will opt into the public system. <br />
• We need to fix Social Security – and this is one we know how to deal with. Lots of studies have established that a combination of tax increases and benefit adjustments, including means testing for our wealthier citizens, can promptly put Social Security on the path to a solid future. <br />
• And finally, we need to re-create the middle class by restoring the link between productivity and compensation. It’s a sad fact that average per hour compensation has not increased, in real terms, since the late 1970s. Productivity has risen dramatically, but the returns on that productivity have gone almost exclusively to either capital or the highest earners in our society. The result is a higher level of income and wealth inequality than we have had since 1929. Whether that discrepancy gets fixed through revisions in the tax code, by reforming corporate governance or by strengthening the union movement, we all need to face the fact that equality matters, and that we can have neither a dynamic economy nor a politically cohesive citizenry if a small percentage of the people have most of the money. <br />
To accomplish any of this, we’re all going to have to do a better job of educating ourselves, of listening carefully to the other guy’s point of view and talking to one another about how to get America’s mojo back. <br />
I hope we will. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><b><b></b></b></b>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-83783507034703259702011-08-22T09:17:00.000-04:002011-08-22T09:20:52.650-04:00POTHOLES AND POVERTY–OR SOMETHING BETTER<p>On September 30, unless Congress acts to extend it, the 18.4 cent Federal gasoline tax will expire. It’s hard to imagine an overt act more immediately damaging to our economy or more inconsistent with our long term economic needs. <p>The tax, which has not been raised since 1983, is clearly inadequate. In 2008, the Highway Trust fund – which is the fund intended to support transportation improvements in the U. S. – ran out of money. Spending from the Trust Fund has exceeded revenues since 2002. Although Congress has plugged the gap with revenues from the General fund, it has failed to come up with an integrated plan – and a funding program –to assure adequate maintenance of our existing assets and provide the improvements needed to assure competitive capabilities in the years ahead. <p>Allowing the gasoline tax to lapse would, among other things: <p>· Encourage people to drive more, thus worsening the already severe congestion that irritates us all – and costs more than $100 billion annually in extra fuel costs. <p>· Increase our negative trade gap, and increase our energy dependence <p>· Cost lots of jobs. $1billion in infrastructure spending supports about 25,000 jobs; if the tax lapses and we stop spending, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be in immediate jeopardy. <p>· Accelerate the already severe deterioration of existing bridges and highways <p>It’s hard to understand why anyone would even consider allowing the tax to lapse. Americans pay far less for gasoline than driver’s in other countries, and much less in fuel taxes as well. The recent Simpson-Bowles Commission recommended an immediate 15 cent per gallon increase in the tax; others have suggested more substantial increases. Everyone except politicians seeking votes seems to agree that our infrastructure needs immediate and substantial help. <p>It is clear that it does – and that the needed help will cost lots more than another 15 cents a gallon at the pump. In 2008 the national Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission – a Congressional creation – recommended spending at least $225 billion annually, far more than we now spend. Various estimates put the bill for deferred maintenance of our highways and bridges in the neighborhood of $2 trillion. <p>In addition to needing lots more maintenance on our roads and bridges, we also need an integrated plan to upgrade and expand our capabilities in many areas. We need a plan that measures the adequacy of our highways, mass transit capabilities, airports, ports, communication systems, energy transmission systems, waste facilities, water systems, hospitals, law enforcement facilities and educational assets against those of other countries – and that provides for the many and substantial improvements needed to put the U. S. back in a position of leadership. <p>Around the world, our competitors are spending far larger shares of GDP on infrastructure improvements than the U. S. Brazil, India and China, are reportedly spending more than $1trillion annually! And we are clearly falling behind. <p>In 2005, the World Economic Forum rated the U. S. # 1 in economic competitiveness; today, we are ranked #15. Unless we fix the problem, we’ll rank even lower in the years ahead. <p>Solving the problem is a necessity if we want the country and our kids to have a satisfactory future– and stepping up to that necessity also represents an opportunity to solve one of today’s major problems. If Congress and the President were to come up with a national infrastructure plan this fall, and fund it at just $200 billion annually for the next ten years, we’d generate about 5 million new jobs. <p>Although it is clear that $200 billion will not be sufficient to meet the competitive challenge being mounted by others, it will be enough to provide a big chunk of the roughly 12 million jobs we’ll need during those ten years to put the currently unemployed back to work and provide opportunities for new workers. Moreover, the economic activity created and facilitated by that infrastructure investment will drive GDP growth, create lots of additional employment opportunities and – hopefully – provide the resources needed to build the capabilities not included in the initial plan. <p>Some will doubtless say we can’t afford it. In my view, these are investments we cannot afford to forego. Moreover, since we have spent or committed between $3 and $5 trillion during the last ten years in Iraq, Afghanistan and other military adventures – spending which has produced nothing and has yielded neither assets nor infrastructure to support our future growth – I just don’t buy the argument that we can’t find a way to finance the assets and capabilities needed to assure a decent future for our kids and grandkids. <p>Those interested in a more comprehensive examination of our infrastructure problem can find an excellent recent report here: <p><a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/publications/falling-apart-falling-behind">http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/publications/falling-apart-falling-behind</a></p> Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-29993026445038062192011-08-13T17:49:00.000-04:002011-08-13T17:49:02.811-04:00Why Not, Pray Tell<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The California Legislature recently approved the National Popular Vote Bill, joining eight other states that have approved the idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question we all ought to be asking is “What’s holding everyone else up?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Under current law, in all but two states, the candidate for President who gets the most votes receives all of that state’s electoral votes. There are lots of bad things about that arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The most offensive is that we can – and have – ended up with a President <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>who gets fewer votes than another candidate -- a result I think most people find repugnant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When there is an election, the candidate who gets the most votes ought to win!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 4 of our 56 presidential elections – most recently in 2000 -- the person who “won” got fewer votes than another candidate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The most important problem is that the current system discourages voting, and thus deprives both politicians and citizens of knowledge about which policy choices the public actually favors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are a Republican in a state that is regularly and heavily Democratic, what’s the point of voting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know in advance that you will be voting for a candidate who cannot win in your state and that as a consequence, your vote will effectively be ignored. The result is that voter participation – lamentably low in the “ battleground states” at about 67% -- was a truly disgraceful 61% in “spectator” states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moreover, citizens in states that are tilted heavily in favor of one party are essentially ignored by those seeking the presidency. Why should a candidate bother to poll, organize or advertise in a state he or she is assured of winning? In 2008, to choose an example, 98% of post-convention campaign events involving either a presidential or vice-presidential candidate occurred in just 15 closely divided “battleground” states. The rest of the states were essentially ignored by the presidential campaigns. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As many people know, the Constitution gives the states exclusive control over the manner in which their electoral votes are allocated. Maine and Nebraska now award electoral votes according to the popular vote in congressional districts; many states have altered the way in which electoral votes are allocated several times during the evolution of our political system. Thus, the states can solve this problem anytime they choose to do so. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Congress cannot alter the way in which states allocate Electoral College votes. The National Popular Vote Bill, although it sounds like pending legislation, is in fact simply a pact between states that have approved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its terms provide that it will come into effect when it is approved by states with at least 270 Electoral College votes, which is enough to secure an Electoral College majority. However, since there are many and varied opinions about whether Congressional approval would be required, and since litigation – by someone on some grounds – would almost certainly result, it seems likely that when and if enough states sign on, the next step will be to petition Congress for approval and move on to a Constitutional Amendment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The mechanics, while interesting, are not really important. What is important – for all of us - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is that state level polls have found strong public support for the Bill in virtually every part of the country, in both parties, and in all demographic groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So why haven’t more legislatures responded?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because most of us haven’t made it clear that we are not content with the status quo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, if you agree that it’s time to be sure that the candidate who gets the most votes wins, and if you are tired to having presidential contenders ignore large numbers of us, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>let your state legislators know that you want your state to approve the National Popular Vote Bill.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span></span>It’s about time, in my opinion, to be sure we all have a reason to vote and to be sure that every vote counts!!! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyone interested in more information of this subject can find it here: <a href="http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/explanation.php">http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/explanation.php</a></span></div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8222552103375669349.post-40568429420961046342011-08-12T15:12:00.001-04:002011-08-12T17:45:15.149-04:00Anyone else willing?<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In a recent NY Times column, Joe Nocera wanted to know why people who are willing to pay higher taxes don’t stand up and say so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ok, I’m both able and willing, and I’ll bet there are lots of others like myself who are equally willing.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Any sensible person can look at recent events in London and see what lies ahead for the United States if we don’t bring an end to the era of constantly increasing income inequality and lost hope. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> When people lose hope – as they will unless we invest what’s needed to fix our ever worsening educational system, repair our infrastructure, eliminate the complexity and unfairness of our ridiculous tax code, and encourage innovation --- they think they have little to lose by destroying the sense of security and social comity which from their perspective </span><span style="font-size: small;"> benefits everyone but themselves. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So let’s get real. If we want to fix the country’s problem – instead of just talking about doing so – we need to roll taxes back to where they were before the Bush tax cuts, means test the big entitlement programs and get our absurdly high defense spending under control --- because those are the big ticket revenue and spending items that are driving the budget deficits. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> At the same time, we need to do winnow out the countless governmental programs that represent unnecessary intrusions into everyday life and insist that essential government programs </span><span style="font-size: small;"> operate</span><span style="font-size: small;"> efficiently and honestly. </span><span style="font-size: small;">We need to give government the resources needed for its appropriate functions while eliminating functions and activities the government cannot and should not be doing. We can do so only by holding those we elect to a much higher standard of performance. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To meet that goal, we need to fix our political process by eliminating the gerrymandering which enshrines radicalism in most congressional districts as well as the Electoral College, which neutralizes the votes of millions of Americans in every national election. These archaic structures make it impossible to elect people willing to find middle ground rather than cling to ideological extremes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since all this will take time – and since we need change now – let’s begin by adopting all of the Simpson-Bowles Commission’s recommendations.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Doing so, now, will be a great down payment on the broader changes needed, and will give an immense and immediate boost to public confidence. </span></div>Bob Crandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04530910580692934849noreply@blogger.com8