It’s really tragic for the greatest nation in the modern history of the world, with wealth beyond measure, to permit an economic system where roughly half the population have fallen through the cracks & struggle with economic insecurity. And it’s inexcusable the leadership in DC can’t even begin working on viable ideas for reversing this horrible trend for the working class. And the American people, locked into their tribal allegiances, haven’t held our leaders accountable for getting productive things done. Trumpcare or the Trump tax plan are only skirting along the edges, not the transformative changes our economy really needs. Free-market capitalism can’t survive the escalating gaps between the haves & have-nots, as it may soon be voted out based on its own verifiable ineptitude of enabling the widening income/wealth inequality.
A good many millennials not only are expressing a favorable view of socialism over capitalism, but a surprisingly high number are even stating a preference for communism over capitalism. The fork in the road could come as soon as 2020, especially if the GOP keeps lacking viable plans that could make a real impact. We’re at the point we’d better prove a capitalistic system can reverse ongoing trends & offer the lower-middle class access to good jobs paying a livable wage since we’re on the cusp of voting out free-market principles for something far different. That something different could permanently hamper the drive & initiative that always made America great. So allow me to make myself perfectly clear. Trump will not make America great again & socialism cannot make America great again!!! Somewhere in between, whatever can make America great again we’d better figure it out quick!
Trump and congressional Republicans are engineering the largest corporate tax cut in history in order “to restore our competitive edge,” as Trump says. Our competitive edge? Who’s us? Most American corporations – especially big ones that would get most of the planned corporate tax cuts – have no particular allegiance to America. Their only allegiance is to their shareholders.
For years they’ve been cutting the jobs and wages of American workers in order to generate larger profits and higher share prices. Some of these jobs have gone abroad or been outsourced to lower-paid contractors in America. Others have been automated. Most of the remaining jobs pay no more than they did four decades ago, adjusted for inflation.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that even though U.S. economy is doing well by most measures, the benefits are not trickling down to most Americans. Given the overwhelming dominance of American corporations on American politics, combined with their singular concern for share prices rather than the well-being of Americans, it’s folly to think they’ll turn tax cuts into good American jobs. The tax bills big corporations are pushing through Congress are designed to boost their share prices, not boost most Americans.
An article U.S. jobs market/economy not so rosy gives 5 good reasons why. Here’s a graph from another article Sure, wages are growing. But they should be growing faster, showing what we’d ordinarily expect the wage growth to be the past few years given the low unemployment rates. It just illustrates these are not normal times for the labor market:
A United Nations official investigating poverty in the United States was shocked at the level of environmental degradation in some areas of rural Alabama, saying he had never seen anything like it in the developed world. “I think it’s very uncommon in the First World. This is not a sight that one normally sees. I’d have to say that I haven’t seen this,” Philip Alston, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, told Connor Sheets of AL.com earlier this week as they toured a community in Butler County where raw sewage flows from homes through exposed PVC pipes and into open trenches and pits.
“Some might ask why a U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights would visit a country as rich as the United States,” Alston said. “But despite great wealth in the U.S., there also exists great poverty and inequality.” Alston also pointed out that the U.S. “has been very keen” on other countries being investigated by the U.N. for civil and human rights issues. “Now, it’s the turn to look at what’s going on in the U.S.,” Alston said. “There are pretty extreme levels of poverty in the United States given the wealth of the country. And that does have significant human rights implications.”
Despite these concerns, the Republican Party, which controls all three branches of the federal government, is on course to pass a tax bill before the end of the year that will increase the federal deficit by $1 trillion in 10 years–costs that the GOP says will be offset by reducing an already-weakened social safety net. For Alston, these political decisions are at the root of systemic poverty in the U.S.
The other related articles feature economic hardships for young people with mental health problems & workers over 55 who can’t find work. The bulk of the links are on the Trump tax plan. Let’s face it, the GOP proposal may or may not do more harm than good, but its purpose is to really give Trump & the GOP Congress a talking point they finally got major legislation passed. But the plan can’t be effectively sold & is highly unpopular with the American people, as it is mostly viewed as a dud. Just see the various problems described in those articles. We then conclude with links to gerrymandering & the slaughter recently of American soldiers in Niger, which despite its lack of media coverage is in essence for Trump very similar to the Benghazi debacle. So if we spent 5 years looking at Benghazi with endless investigative committees, we should at least give a cursory look at Niger. And also for goodness sakes, let Mueller do his job that he’s been assigned to do without interference.
I may have at any time even once thought about Mormons, especially in 2012 when Romney was running. Now that I know through polling & anecdotal evidence that Mormons are currently displaying a far higher level of moral integrity than many in my own evangelical faith, I wanted to pull out a Christmas song by their famous choir. And here’s hoping & praying evangelicals will seek/find new leadership, so our church can get back to & be defined by their greater purpose, replacing faith leaders turned charlatans like Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson & Jerry Falwell Jr as they practically destroy the witness of our faith. Just like bad political leadership can destroy a party, bad religious leadership can destroy a church. So we’re facing that imminent risk in a very real sense on both fronts right now. But this song can help get us into the Christmas spirit with the true reason for the season.
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