You Should Know B4 You Vote in 2014 - Part IV

I ask if it is right that:

·         15% of Americans live in poverty (some families have two working parents) while others make millions and some pay zero individual income tax.

·         9.3 million Workers are without jobs because businesses took/take them overseas.

·         Congress and criminals have access to better healthcare than the average American.

Yes, there was a 10% increase in the cost of government from Kennedy to 2012 but there was also a decrease of revenue from the corporate tax (27%) and individual tax on the rich (about 40%). In early September 2014, Reuters reported that a Federal Reserve survey (conducted every three years by the Federal Board of Governors) found: from 2010 - 2013 the average income for US families rose about 4% after accounting for inflation and none of the groups analyzed had regained their 2007 income levels by 2013; the top 3% of income earners accounted for 30.5% of all income. On October 28, ABC/WA Post released a poll showing 68% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track; 28% say the economy is improving. This shows that Americans have no idea of what is really going on. Republicans continue to fool the people with their rhetoric. Unemployment is down to its lowest point since 2008 and we are on track for the best job creation in 15 years. Americans need to look at the facts presented in the four segments and ask themselves if the information supports Marco Rubio’s 2012 idea that a Republican is what we need to make ”This century…just as great for our country if not better than the last hundred years”.  

Republicans have not supported the law changes that allow US companies to: headquarter or produce products overseas, donate millions in campaign funds and make billions in profits without consideration for fellow Americans. To stop the US situation from getting worse, we need more Democrats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

You Should Know B4 You Vote in 2014 - Part III

·       In 2012, while Thirdway.org showed a taxpayer earning the 2009 median income of $34,140 paid $5,400 in federal income tax and FICA, a Detroit Free Press analysis showed as of 2009: the total number of tax returns increased slightly over 2006 but the number of taxable returns actually fell by more than 10 million. Nontaxable returns from people with income between $75,000 and $100,000 went from 4,025 in 1996 to 476,624, an increase of almost 12,000%; more than 20,000 filers making more than $200,000 a year owed no income tax and this included 1,470 filers who had adjusted gross incomes of more than $1 million, 6 of which made about $200 million each. In May 2014, a study found that the median 2013 CEO annual salary was $10.5 million; 257xs the average worker’s pay. By September, a study found it would take a typical American worker 354 years to make the average annual salary of a CEO.

·       In 2012, Paul Ryan said both Kennedy and Reagan tried their approach at tax reform. Even though Reagan took back half of the tax cuts he gave in 1981, the overall top marginal individual income tax rate fell from 70.1% to 28.4%; the lowest point in US history since 1931. During Kennedy’s time, corporate taxes made up more than 20% of the total federal revenue and government was 27% of the budget (7% difference). In 2012, the government was 37% of the budget and corporate tax made up less than 10% of the revenue (27% difference).

·      In 2012, Romney talked about the growth in government since Kennedy and said it needed to be scaled back. The US government grew because the world changed a lot in the last 50 years. Americans showed concern with civil rights, health and safety. The Food and Drug Administration, created in 1930 and subsequently expanded, regulates about 25% of consumer expenditures; includes food, drugs, cosmetics and vitamin supplements with most of its expenditures due to monitoring goods imported into the US. The Center for Disease Control, created in 1946 now part of Health and Human Services, expanded from 1967-1992. Lyndon Johnson in 1964 created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in 1965, Medicare/Medicaid. In 1967, he created the Department of Transportation which in 1970 included the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration created by Richard Nixon. In 1970, Nixon also created the Environmental Protection Agency (watches air, ground and water pollution) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In 1972, he also created the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In 1978, Jimmy Carter created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which is now under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created by George W. Bush in 2002. The Transportation Security Administration, DHS and other agencies assist in deterring another 9/11 incident. Every depression and recession was tied to poor banking and stock market rules. Obama signed the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010 to curb their risky actions. Basically, the government grew largely due to the need for oversight of businesses and the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. With the threat of ISIS and other terrorist groups, the Ebola scare, the numerous food recalls, the airbag and other automotive problems, as well as other issues the government tries to monitor, the bottom line is that we, the people, must decide if we are willing to give up our health, homes, retirement funds, and safety so businesses can continue with their bad practices. 

You Should Know B4 You Vote in 2014 - Part II

·      Tea Party Texan Ted Cruz led the government shutdown of October 1-16, 2013 that caused about 800,000 federal employees to be furloughed and 1.3 million to report to work without knowing when they would get paid. Operations resumed October 17 after an interim appropriations bill was signed for fiscal year 2014. Note: In August 2011, the US credit rating dropped for the first time in history because a timely budget was not achieved.

·         The US has been trying to get health care since 1854; Democrat Franklin Pierce vetoed a bill saying he believed social welfare was the responsibility of the states. Democrat and Republican presidents alike have over the years tried to build a health care system but it was not until Obamacare was passed in March 2010 that a comprehensive plan was enacted. Although, the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare in 2012, Cruz continues to lead the way in trying to eliminate it; by March 2014, Congress had voted on it 54 times.

·         According to a report on outsourcing by Working America, manufacturing employment went from 19.5 million workers in June 1979 to 11.5 million in December 2009, a drop of 8 million workers. Although unemployment fell by September 2014, there were still 9.3 million workers without jobs. A 2012 survey from Duke’s Fuqua School of business found “only 4% of large companies had future plans for relocating jobs back to the US.” Seth Hanlon, Director of Fiscal Reform, Center for American Progress, explained that the US tax code “rewards companies for making investments abroad—and leads to them shifting offices, factories, and jobs abroad even if similar investments in the US would be more profitable absent tax considerations.” On ABC’s This Week John Boehner on September 28, 2014, said - there are 40 bills in the Senate and gave the examples as the repeal of taxes on medical devices and implementation of the Keystone Pipeline. In my opinion, these are poor examples of job creation (the pipeline from Canada to TX is short term, will pollute the land and afford only Texans with ongoing job opportunities. 

Things You Should Know B4 You Vote in 2014 - Part 1

Republican policies and actions have given the US:

·         Four depressions and 9 out of 11 recessions with the last being 2007-2009.

·         Unemployment during the depressions was nearly 25%. The highest level of unemployment in the recessions was under Ronald Reagan (1981–1989); in November 1982 it was 10.8% (stayed above 10% for 10 months). Under George W. Bush (2001-2008) unemployment rose from 4.2% to 7.8%. As of September 30, 2014, it dropped to 5.9%; it would have been lower if Barack Obama’s Jobs Act of 2011 was passed.  When unemployment benefits were running out for some 1.3 million workers, Rand Paul basically said from December 8, 2013 to January 7, 2014 that it was better to give them nothing then to extend the benefits; the law extending benefits was passed on April 7, 2014.

·         Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times and increased the federal debt by 218%. Democrat Bill Clinton (1993-2001) raised the ceiling 7 or 8 times and increased the debt by 37%. GW Bush raised the ceiling 7 or 8 times and increased the debt by 86%. As of the close of business July 30, 2014, Obama raised the ceiling 6 or 7 times and the debt rose 65.8%. Obama’s increase has been due to the failure of passing the Jobs Act and an appropriate tax increase on the rich.

·         During Reagan’s tenure, to reduce inflation and lower interest rates, the US borrowed both domestically and abroad to cover the federal budget deficits. This led to the US moving from the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation. (Mitt Romney wanted you to believe that Obama caused this situation.) 

·         Reagan’s domestic borrowing included taking money from Social Security and Medicare. Clinton saved the programs but GW Bush used some of their money to fund the Iraq War. Paul Ryan’s solution was to overall drastically cut benefits but Obama reduced the benefits to the wealthy. Note: Republicans want the programs to be privatized. If this had happened they would have gone under with the Wall Street failures during the recession.