Sin # 4. Torpedo the Right Target(s).
Ah, now we reach the point where the rubber meets the road. It is one thing to point out how we got into this mess. The real test is to set a course to safely maneuver out of these dangerous waters.
Everyone has their favorite targets to destroy - - and to protect. I am no different. I am infuriated at the inequality that exists in the good old US of A! Consider these disturbing facts.
· In 2009 (the most recent figures I have available to me) the Forbes 400, representing the richest 400 households in the United States, held a combined net assets of $1.27 trillion. This represents a whopping 0.0000035 percent of all Americans. If that's not enough to blow your wig off, read on.....
· Also in 2009, the bottom 50% of all American households - - yes, that is 50 percent - - held net assets totally $1.37 trillion. In other words, less than 4 millionth of 1 percent of Americans own more wealth than one half of their countrymen. That is so lopsided I can't even put it into perspective.
· Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will result in a loss of $42 billion in 2012 alone. That represents petty cash for those guys, yet they are not about to part with it. Think the federal government could use that $42 billion in ways that could make a real difference in people's lives? Keep reading....
· The wealthiest Americans currently enjoy the lowest tax rates they have ever seen since the Eisenhower Administration. Can someone explain to me why these untouchables pay less and less taxes while inflation alone is going to cost the government more money every year?
The nation's billionaires are not the only ones who have been protected and pampered by Congress and the White House over the years. I wonder how many times you and I are going to bail out Chrysler and save them from themselves? Let's see, we did it twice now. In 1979 we gave them 1.5 billion dollars. In all fairness Chrysler did repay this amount eventually, only to fall back into bankruptcy again 3 decades later. Once again we rescued the mis-mangers, this time using $6.6 billion. Again, this was repaid in time.
In general I must admit I was totally against the $700 billion bailout of 2008. History reveals, however, that such actions are not new. As long ago as 1792 the United States government intervened in the financial affairs of public and private concerns with bailout bundles that always seem to prove successful in the long run. But the question remains: Is it right to bail out banks, businesses and assorted industries while we also ignore the most basic human needs of our own citizens?
I told you that I had my targets that I prefer to protect, and here they are. Currently a disabled person receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cannot have more than $2,000 in total assets. This includes their SSI payments. If a person's assets total more than $2,000 all SSI payments and Medical Assistance (if received) are terminated. Its that simple. Remember, to receive this benefit one must be legally disabled, either physically, developmentally, or intellectually. Persons who qualify for SSI typically cannot possibly hold even the most basic, entry level type of job. They are truly unable to provide for themselves.
Even with such aide, however, the question of adequate housing remains problematic. An SSI payment of $600 - $700 per month (the typical amount) will not possibly be sufficient to pay for 30 days worth of meals, rent, utilities, clothes, and transportation. Yet the recipient is not allowed to save up any amount of money that would equal more than $2,000 including the monthly SSI check. Obviously, this creates a quandary. Unless the disabled person has a family member who is willing to take them in and assume the innumerable complications that accompany such a move, the only other solution is some form of support from the government. And this is where the tea partiers and they political bed partners are taking aim. Already such support has taken a huge hit. (See my post Playing The Slots With Disabilities dated December 19, 2010). Expect more to come if the GOP has their way. That will mean a greater number of disabled persons will not be able to find housing and will either become homeless, incarcerated, or left to exist in sub-standard conditions.
Remember those 0.0000035 percent of American households tightly clutching on to the top 400 incomes in this country? I wonder how many of them would be willing to exchange their lifestyle for the overwhelming sum of $2,000 in net assets? Well, at least they won't have to worry about losing their tax cuts, because they won't have any money to pay taxes on!
Then there is the issue of corporate perks. Personal jets; salaries channeled into tax-free accounts; and loopholes out he kazoo that the average person knows nothing about and could not possibly take advantage of.
Consider, too, the unfunded wars that we are in, and have been in for the past 10 years. The War in Iraq has cost the United States taxpayers $900 billion to date. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, also reports a total of $6.6 billion of U.S. funds earmarked for Iraq reconstruction as being lost and reported stolen. Bowen calls this the "largest theft of goods in national history". What's worse is the last known holder of the funds was the U. S. Government. Then there is the matter of the $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and other goods and services that was provided to the Iraqi security forces but are now reported missing.
It is worth noting that while all other nations have withdrawn troops from Iraq the United States continues to station 45,000 troops there. U.S. casualties have now totaled 4,457, with another 32,102 wounded (not including those who suffered psychological injuries).
Add to this another $30 billion spent on the War in Afghanistan, and one wonders how we ever made it this far.
Here again I must question the priorities of our national policies. Just who do we think we are that we can continue spending money at such an insane pace. With no meaningful accountability, no less. And how can any thinking person argue that we should continue this path but not increase our revenue by either increasing taxes somewhere or closing loopholes and cuts for the ones who could most readily afford to pay?
The Tea Party claims that closing loopholes is just another form of tax increases. They are dead wrong. The current loopholes are in fact cleaver ways for cunning people to avoid paying the taxes that they owe. Closing the loopholes, therefore, is not a form of tax increase. Rather, it is restored revenue that is being stolen from the government so long as they remain in existence. By the Tea Party line of reasoning, if I gave the clerk at the grocery store a $5 bill in error when I actually owed him $10 it would be OK if the clerk did not notice and I continue to walk out the door with my groceries. If, on the other hand, the clerk does notice and calls me back to say, "Excuse me sir, you gave me a $5 bill instead of a ten" I now can say that the price of my groceries just went up! I have now paid $10 instead of $5. Of course, we all know that the price of groceries did not increase. I'm just paying more now because I am actually paying what I owe! That is the essence behind the loophole argument.
So again I say, let's TORPEDO THE RIGHT TARGETS by seeking to eliminate truly wasteful spending AND shift a greater responsibility for the cost of government to those who have greater resources available to pay it. This will allow us to do what governments are supposed to do, namely protect those members of their country who cannot provide for themselves. This includes the disabled, the poor, the children, and a good number of the elderly.
Remember the words of Jesus: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48)". Also, the Apostle Paul: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)"
As followers of Jesus Christ we need to remember to see things from his point of view and not be blinded by our political bias.
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