The Press-Dispatch

February 19, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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B-4 Wednesday, Februar y 19, 2020 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg From time to time, my interest focuses on health care matters, a nice shift from the seeming end- less topic of politics we are inun- dated with. Of course I still en- joy watching sports on T V espe- cially basketball, also, one of my favorites is watching documenta- ries about nature, history, and cu- linary. Lately, this Corona virus (COV- ID-19) news has caught my atten- tion, so I started some reading into what this is about. I found out there was a lot to learn and understand, and I am not about to produce a lengthy disertation on it. Let me just share the little I know for what- ever good it will do. I do not claim absolute and in depth knowledge about this ill- ness. Just tidbits of what I read on different reputable and official websites like the CDC and the In- diana State Department of Health. Remember, this is something new or novel. So let me share some questions I came up with evolv- ing from my own cu- riosity. There are so ma- ny theories scientists are looking into and I'm not sure what to subscribe to. Exam- ple, where did this co- rona virus come from and how did it evolve? Now I start seeing re- ports it may have come from bats, and that other animals such as camels, cattles, and cats may have harbored them. And that eventually these viruses may have mutated and spread from an- imals to animals then animals to humans. Apparently there are ma- ny varieties of corona virus but the one that has caused a lot of prob- lems the past few weeks was ob- served in China in a city called Wu- han in the Province of Hubei. There are reports that the plac- es they may have come from are the public markets where seafood and live animals are sold. I suspect the City start- ed noticing a large amount of flu symp- toms which were more virulent and caused an unusual amount of morbidity and mortal- ity. Being that the of- ficials in that country have a more controlled manner of disseminating information, the system of reporting and manag- ing the disease caused widespread lack of information. You probably know the rest of the story, especially the ophthal- mologist who first alerted the au- thorities about what he had ob- served. Reports indicate he's not been heard from anymore. My Point of View By Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Corona virus Minority View By Walter E. Williams A more or less perfect union Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 "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 nation starting in February. The documentary is a personal ex- ploration of the U.S. Constitution by Justice Douglas Ginsburg, who served on the U.S. Court of Ap- peals D.C. Circuit and is now a se- nior justice on the court. Ginsburg explores the U.S. Constitution and features interviews with and gains the perspectives from constitution- al experts of all political views — liberal, conservative and libertar- ian. He examines the key issues of liberty in the U.S. both from a historical and contemporary per- spective. 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 gov- ernment. The first episode is titled "A Constitution in Writing." It exam- ines the contentious atmosphere that arose among the delegates in that hot, humid Philadelphia summer of 1787. State delegates were sent to Philadelphia 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 documen- tary examines some of the efforts to deal with the problems of the Articles of Confeder- ation while maintain- ing its guiding princi- ple to preserve the in- dependence and sov- ereignty of the states. It also examines 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 demanded amendments be add- ed that contained specific guar- antees of personal freedoms and rights and clear limitations on the federal government's power. They swore that they would never rati- fy the Constitution unless it con- tained a Bill of Rights. The second episode is titled "A Constitution for All." One major emphasis of this episode is the ex- amination of the Supreme Court decisions 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 Civ- il War Amendments, which were designed to ensure equality for recently emancipat- ed slaves. There is al- so discussion of Bill of Rights guarantees to people accused of a crime. There is more exploration into 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 citi- zen "life, liberty or property." This forced the government to compen- sate citizens when it takes private property for public use. Episode three, "Our Constitu- tion 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 demand from our elect- ed representatives. There's a dis- cussion about how some of our Pursuit of the Cure By Star Parker Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond Trump is paving the way, GOP must follow up Fight the good fight of faith Allow me to speak about the church in America. Each local church or parish identifies itself as traditional [orthodox] or pro- gressive [liberal]. Though some churches may claim they are mod- erate, they lean toward progres- sive. The Ol' Ship of Zion [church] is taking on water. Many are des- perately trying to man the pumps and right the ship, but it is becom- ing futile. No amount of teaching or begging from either faction will change most congregant's minds. The church has arrived at this juncture due to becoming com- fortable with our brokenness. The Church has affirmed everyone's brokenness without holding each other accountable. Surprisingly, the church has been on this road before. There has been a continual seesaw with- in the church through the ages to modern times. Until now, various movements (such as the Reforma- tion) and revivals (rise of Wesley- ans, Great Awakening, and 20th Century Post-War Revival) have been sufficient to keep the ship afloat and running straight. Prophetically speaking, Jesus and his apostles warned there will come a time when the ship can no longer be righted. Simply stated a large segment of the post-modern Church sees no need to embrace discipleship. Jesus loves me "Just As I Am" be- cause He made me-period! Paul warned Timothy the "time will come when men will no longer endure sound doctrine. We have reached that point. To me this signals a willing abandonment of the historical or- thodoxy [teachings] of the church. In its place comes a counterfeit faith, which has a form of God- liness but has no power; it is not of Christ hence no leading of the Holy Spirit, and empowerment to change lives because there is no discipleship call to follow in Christ's footsteps other than so- cial justice. The Parable of the Wheat and Tares applies to the modern Church. The workers tell their master the enemy crept in while we "were asleep," [similar to the Parable of the Ten Virgins]. The solution was to leave them alone for when harvest comes, the coun- terfeit will be blown away by the wind [Holy Spirit at the "bright- ness of his coming"], and the rest will be gathered by the husband- man. If the Church continues embrac- ing brokenness, eventually the tra- ditionalist within the local Church will be silenced, even though the majority of the church laity re- mains orthodox. Sadly, there are many disingen- uous Judas Goats, "liars in wait," and those of the "baser sort" among us. The Church is experi- encing a dangerous amount of dis- trust among pastors and laity. Regardless of denomination, the local Pastor, Vicar, Priest, or Broth- er has inherited a church, which has had many laborers, internal leaders, and programs. Whatever the makeup of the church is—the ministry of the church must real- ize "it is what it is." Whether a pastor finds him/her- self in a progressive leaning or a traditional orthodox church at this point in time "the die is already cast." The pastor must recognize the outcome is predetermined and to believe otherwise is foolish and naive. To try to move the church toward an opposite direction from where it is will swiftly become di- visive for everyone. Every pastor needs to discern where his/her church falls on the spectrum of progressive/tradi- tional, and regardless of personal convictions help that church on its way. To attempt to become a Josh- ua and do "Me and my House" ul- timatum is unwise. Joshua had a nation intact and unified—but had grown compla- cent. His call was a rallying cry. The Church in America is be- yond complacent. There has been at least a 50 -year rallying cry, yet attendance and people claiming Until now, every major proposal to make the 2017 tax cuts perma- nent has neglected to address the expiration of the most pro-growth piece of the reform: full and imme- diate 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 harder to create jobs, increase productiv- ity, 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 on- ly temporary. The 2017 law allows 100 percent expensing for five years, through 2022, then phas- es it out over the next five years. The Accelerate Long-term In- vestment Growth Now (ALIGN) Act, introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would make permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's 100 percent expens- ing for short-lived assets (those with useful lives of 20 years or less). Tax reform is about more than just lowering rates. Structural re- forms, such as expensing, are a crucial part of updating the tax code and can provide 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 mis- takes of past attempts to make aspects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Expensing is not just a business tax cut; it is fundamental- ly pro-worker. Expensing lowers the tax costs of new investments, which allows busi- nesses to expand and upgrade their facilities and equipment, which leads to more jobs, better technology, and gains in produc- tivity, all of which boosts wages. American workers now benefit from better than 3 percent wage growth on average, with even fast- er gains for lower-income work- ers. For this good news to con- tinue, business investment must regain its ground following his- torically high trade uncertain- Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 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-Collar Labor Boom Reduces Inequality." 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 bottom 50 % of households. Employment has surged, and unemployment 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 every- one else: more individual free- dom. How do Republicans translate this into votes? In my organization, Center for Urban Renewal and Education, we've been looking at recent poll- ing 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 vot- ers are from typical Democrats. 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 Re- search, 55% of blacks say belief in God is necessary to be mor- al. This compared with 26 % of all Democrats and 46 % of all Repub- licans. The real departure of blacks from Republicans is on questions touching on fairness and inequal- ity. 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 ma- jor 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 Amer- icans in his State of the Union ad- dress. 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 mes- sage for half a century. And the re- sults have been dismal. Republicans have already got Heritage Viewpoint By Adam Michel New bill fixes damaging taxation of business investment

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