CROSSVILLE —
This past national election turned into a contest between the interests of the very rich and those of the middle class and the poor. Although this contest was won last month by the latter group, the underlying class war aspect of the contest is continuing today.
On the one side, the very wealthy are struggling to preserve their very low tax rates, and to reduce instead the benefits of Social Security and Medicare for the middle class and the poor. By raising the retirement age and eligibility age of these programs (if they can't privatize them), the wealthy hope that enough income can be raised so that they won't be forced to pay more in taxes. On the other side, the middle class and poor want desperately to protect these programs on which they are so dependent, and are leery of any "grand bargains" that may be discussed by the wealthy.
In a poll released Nov. 28 by the Washington Post and ABC News, it was reported that 60 percent of those asked stated that they would like to see higher income taxes on those in the higher income brackets over $250,000. Only 37 percent were in opposition. The report also indicated that 66 percent opposed raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Only 30 percent supported such a raise. In each case the majority had hoped that the way the November election turned out would have settled those questions.
There are other aspects of this ongoing class war that deserve our attention. The International Monetary Fund recently warned that high income inequality could damage a nation's long-term growth. A growing number of analysts, however, have come to the conclusion that the real menace to our long-term prosperity is not income inequality but wealth inequality. This been getting worse over the past several decades. In 1992, the top tenth of the population controlled 20 times the wealth controlled by the bottom half. By 2010, it was 65 times. If we had the wisdom to devise a way of taxing wealth rather than income, they believe that many of our nation's current problems could be solved.
Another problem that our nation needs to work on during the next four years is the tremendous cost of our current state of permanent war. Under President George Bush our nation entered into an unfunded "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan, Iraq and neighboring nations which has embroiled us in huge financial debt and a co-option of our national resources. There is not much hope of being able to solve infrastructure problems until we end that war.
It has become clearer that we made several mistakes after 9/11. The first mistake was in deciding that 9/11 called for a response of war instead of considering it to be an international crime and taking it to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. To pursue that war, we then made another mistake: we declared war on a tactic, "terrorism," and then used that very same tactic as our nation's official response. It gives one pause to discover that other nations regard our drones as instruments of terrorism. The choice we made in response to 9/11 cannot be changed, but is there a way we can now bring this massive drain of funds to an end?
These are some of the financial challenges before us today. What kind of possible solutions do you see in our future?
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This column is sponsored by Cumberland Countians for Peace and Justice and dedicated by the local writers to the theme that the lion and the lamb can and must learn to live together and grow in their relationship toward one another to ensure a better world. Opinions expressed in “Lion and the Lamb” columns are not necessarily those of the Crossville Chronicle publisher, editor or staff. For more information, contact Ted Braun, editor, at 277-5135.
Opinion
Lion and the Lamb: Our nation's financial health
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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