South Gibson Star-Times

B-10 Tuesday, Februar y 18, 2020 South Gibson Star-Times The disproportionate num- ber of A frican American spe- cial guests hosted by President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address made clear how very serious he is about courting the support of this community. The question, of course, is whether meaningful change in how A frican Americans vote is possible or is just wishful think- ing by Republicans. Since 1964, Democrats have picked up an average of 90 % of the black vote in every presiden- tial election, and Republicans have picked up an average of 10 % . Have the Democrats served the black community so well that they deserve such disproportion- ate support? I say no way. The Council of Economic Ad- visers published a paper a few weeks ago titled "The Blue-Col- lar Labor Boom Reduces Inequal- ity." It highlights the incredible eco- nomic achievements among low- er-income families during the Trump administration. "(A)verage wage growth for A frican Americans has outpaced wage growth for white Ameri- cans," it says. Per the data reported, "Near- ly 2.5 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2017 and 2018, and the poverty rates for A frican Americans and Hispanics both fell in 2018, reaching new histor- ic lows." We're seeing historic increas- es in net worth among the bot- tom 50 % of house- holds. Employ- ment has surged, and unemploy- ment has reached all-time lows. In other words, we've got real evidence that what I have been talking about for 20 years is true. That is, the path to opportunity and achievement for low-income Americans is the same for everyone else: more in- dividual freedom. How do Republicans translate this into votes? In my organization, Center for Urban Renewal and Education, we've been looking at recent polling data to see what it tells us about why A frican Americans vote overwhelmingly for Demo- cratic candidates every presiden- tial election. One thing that jumps out from the data is how different black voters are from typical Demo- crats. Per Gallup, 49 % of all Demo- crats define themselves as liber- al. Only 28 % of blacks do. On questions of religion and morality, blacks poll far more like Republicans than Democrats. One example: Per Pew Research, 55% of blacks say be- lief in God is nec- essary to be moral. This compared with 26 % of all Democrats and 46 % of all Repub- licans. The real depar- ture of blacks from Republicans is on questions touching on fairness and inequality. According to Gallup, 57% of Democrats feel the country is divided into "haves and "have- nots." Twenty-four percent of Re- publicans believe this, but 70 % of blacks do. And, per Pew, 39 % of whites compared with 66 % of blacks say economic inequality is a major problem in the country. And 48 % of whites compared with 74% of blacks say government should be doing more to solve problems. President Trump ticked through much of the good eco- nomic news for low-income Americans in his State of the Union address. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up the speech. And Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whit- mer, in the Democratic reply to the State of the Union, called President Trump "dishonest." Democrats will deny what is happening. They know that black voters have been listening to their big-government-dependence message for half a century. And the results have been dismal. Republicans have already got black voters on board with them regarding the importance of reli- gion, faith and morality. But they've got a big job to change black attitudes about re- liance on big government. Republicans need to get into the trenches and present the case for freedom. The advantage they have is truth and plenty of glow- ing data from the last three years. President Trump's outreach to A frican Americans in the State of the Union was a great start. In addition to highlighting the great economic news, he showcased education opportunity scholar- ships, opportunity zones and criminal justice reform. President Trump is laying the groundwork for a sea change in A frican American politics. Re- publicans need to follow up. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Ed- ucation and author of the new book "Necessary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This is Good News for America," available now at star- parker.com. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Signed copies of letters must be submitted by noon on Friday. Send them in by mail, email or in person. Minority View By Walter E. Williams A more or less perfect union Pursuit of the Cure By Star Parker Trump is paving the way, Republicans must follow up "A More or Less Perfect Union" is a three-part series, produced by Free to Choose Network, that will air on various PBS stations across the na- tion starting in February. The doc- umentary is a personal exploration of the U.S. Constitution by Justice Douglas Ginsburg, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Cir- cuit and is now a senior justice on the court. Ginsburg explores the U.S. Constitution and features inter- views with and gains the perspec- tives from constitutional experts of all political views — liberal, conser- vative and libertarian. He examines the key issues of liberty in the U.S. both from a historical and contem- porary perspective. Among those issues are freedom of the press and religion, slavery and civil rights, the Second Amendment, separation of powers and the number of ways that the Constitution's framers sought to limit the power of the federal govern- ment. The first episode is titled "A Con- stitution in Writing." It examines the contentious atmosphere that arose among the delegates in that hot, hu- mid Philadelphia summer of 1787. State delegates were sent to Phila- delphia to work out the problems of the Articles of Confederation, which served as the first Constitution of the 13 original states. This part of the documentary examines some of the efforts to deal with the problems of the Articles of Confederation while maintaining its guiding principle to preserve the independence and sov- ereignty of the states. It also exam- ines the compromises and struggles that led to the document we know as the U.S. Constitution. Some of the framers, particularly the Anti-Fed- eralists, led by Patrick Henry, saw the Constitution as defective and de- manded amendments be added that contained specific guarantees of per- sonal freedoms and rights and clear limitations on the federal govern- ment's power. They swore that they would never ratify the Constitution unless it contained a Bill of Rights. The second episode is titled "A Constitution for All." One major em- phasis of this episode is the exam- ination of the Supreme Court deci- sions that undermined racial justice both for slaves and later ex-slaves for a century after the Civil War. Several constitutional scholars discuss how the courts and states ignored and weakened the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, known collectively as the Civil War Amendments, which were designed to ensure equality for recently emancipated slaves. There is also discussion of Bill of Rights guarantees to people accused of a crime. There is more exploration in- to the Bill of Rights guarantees of free speech, religious freedom and the notion that "due process of law" be part of any proceeding that denies a citizen "life, liberty or property." This forced the government to com- pensate citizens when it takes private property for public use. Episode three, "Our Constitution at Risk," examines the many ways that our Constitution is under assault today. It points out that the framers would be shocked by how all three branches of government have grown as a result of what we the people de- mand from our elected represen- tatives. There's a discussion about how some of our Bill of Rights guar- antees mean absolutely nothing to- day, namely the 9th and 10th Amend- ments, which reaffirm personal lib- erty by specifically limiting the fed- eral government to its "enumerated powers." "A More or Less Perfect Union" is not just a bunch of academics and constitutional experts preaching. It features interviews with everyday Americans weighing in with their vi- sions on the rule of law, the branch- es of government and the debate over originalism. There's a compan- ion book titled "Voices of Our Repub- lic," edited by Ginsburg. It is a collec- tion of thoughts about the Constitu- tion from judges, journalists, and ac- ademics. It includes the thoughts of Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil Gorsuch and Sandra Day O'Connor, publisher Arthur Sul- zberger, professor Alan Dershowitz, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and historians Joseph Ellis and Ron Chernow, along with Jack Nicklaus, Gene Simmons and many others. The most important audience for "A More or Less Perfect Union" is high school and college students. For it is they who stand a good chance of losing the liberties that made our na- tion the greatest and freest on earth. Until now, every major propos- al to make the 2017 tax cuts per- manent has neglected to address the expiration of the most pro- growth piece of the reform: full and immediate expensing. Full expensing fixes a dam- aging quirk in the U.S. tax code that raises the cost of investing in America and thus makes it hard- er to create jobs, increase produc- tivity, and raise wages. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made it easier to invest by lower- ing the corporate tax rate and let- ting businesses deduct spending on important investments such as equipment and tools in the same way they currently deduct their spending on employee wages, ad- vertising costs, and rent. The permanent rate cut re- ceived most of the media atten- tion, but the investment rules are equally important, and they're only temporary. The 2017 law al- lows 100 percent expensing for five years, through 2022, then phases it out over the next five years. The Accelerate Long-term In- vestment Growth Now (ALIGN) Act, introduced by Sen. Pat Toom- ey, R-Pa., would make permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's 100 percent expensing for short-lived assets (those with useful lives of 20 years or less). Tax reform is about more than just lowering rates. Structur- al reforms, such as expensing, are a crucial part of updating the tax code and can pro- vide the stron- gest economic boosts. Eric York of the Tax Foundation says, "in the long run, permanent 100 per- cent [expensing] produces about 4.5 times more GDP growth per dollar of revenue than making in- dividual TCJA provisions perma- nent." It also is important to keep indi- vidual taxes low, but neglecting to extend expensing, the most pro- growth part of the 2017 tax cuts, is a form of economic malprac- tice. The ALIGN Act remedies the mistakes of past attempts to make aspects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Expensing is not just a busi- ness tax cut; it is fundamentally pro-worker. Expensing lowers the tax costs of new investments, which allows busi- nesses to expand and upgrade their facilities and equip- ment, which leads to more jobs, bet- ter technology, and gains in produc- tivity, all of which boosts wages. American work- ers now benefit from better than 3 percent wage growth on average, with even faster gains for lower-income workers. For this good news to continue, business investment must regain its ground following historically high trade uncertain- ty, tariffs, and other headwinds. Without permanent expensing, investment in American work- ers will be less attractive. Expensing has bipartisan sup- port. Testifying at a recent House hearing on the 2017 corporate tax reform, Jason Furman, an economic advisor under Presi- dent Barack Obama, was critical of the overall tax reform but de- scribed full business expensing as the first element of his alter- native tax proposal. The ALIGN Act also fixes an important drafting error in the original legislation, which keeps certain interior building improve- ments, called Qualified Improve- ment Property, from being ex- pensed. The proposal from Toomey is the much-needed companion piece to the various Republican plans for tax reform 2.0. Making all the provisions of the 2017 tax cuts permanent, including ex- pensing, would increase the pro- jected growth from the original, temporary reform by about 60 percent. Addressing the growing fiscal crisis through spending reforms will also be a crucial part of al- lowing taxes to stay low for fu- ture generations. Making expensing perma- nent is a necessary fix to help American workers, who rely on the world's best technology and tools to compete with a global workforce. Adam Michel focuses on tax pol- icy and the federal budget as a Se- nior Policy Analyst in the Grover M. Hermann Center. Heritage Viewpoint By Adam Michel New bill fixes damaging taxation of business investment

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