The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1361578
B-4 Wednesday, April 14, 2021 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 President Biden is preparing a massive tax-and-spend plan that would greatly expand the feder- al government and harm economic growth. The higher taxes being put forth by Biden would reverse important as- pects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by then-President Trump in 2017. Those tax increas- es would also reverse the substan- tial economic gains that resulted from the tax cuts and the improved regulatory climate ushered in under Trump. In making the case for tax increas- es, Biden and others have relied on several myths about the 2017 tax cuts. Myth: The cuts were just for the rich An often repeated, but untrue, claim is that the tax cuts were just for the highest income Americans. More than 80 percent of taxpayers saw a lower tax burden, and IRS da- ta confirm that every income group benefited from lower effective tax rates the year after the law was en- acted. In fact, the law made the tax code even more progres- sive. Taxes paid by the bottom 50 per- cent of earners fell by more than 10 percent after the tax cuts, compared to just a 0.04 per- cent drop for the top 1 percent. In 2018, the top 1 percent of earners paid 40 percent of the income taxes—up from 38 percent before the tax cuts. Myth: The cut for corporations didn't help workers In 2017, U.S.-based companies faced the highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world, putting them at a serious competi- tive disadvantage. The tax cuts re- duced that rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, reduced double taxation, en- couraged business investment, and supported job and wage growth for workers. In the two years after the tax cuts, wages increased by more than $1,400 above the previous trend for pro- duction and nonsupervisory workers. In 2019, real house- hold income reached an all- time high. The unemployment rate fell to a 50 -year low as new job openings surged, and tens of thousands more people were able to voluntarily leave old jobs for better opportunities. Business investment boomed even beyond what government econo- mists had projected, although these gains were later undermined by tar- iffs and trade uncertainty. While the tax cuts worked as in- tended and had positive results, the corporate tax rate is still too high to give U.S. workers the best possi- Race for the Cure By Star Parker Points to Ponder By Rev. Ford Bond by H.K. Fenol, Jr. MD The past years have been a series of upsetting times for all of us, who, daily, weekly or monthly hear about shootings of law enforcement offi- cers, shootings in schools, in church- es, synagogues and mosques, in gro- cery and shopping areas, shootings of innocent victims, and more. What has become of us? As I listen to the news, I wonder, is this becom- ing really frequent because of cer- tain common traits? Is it the ability of news reporting to become so quick, so fast, so intense that it feels like vi- olence is on the rise? When I talk to friends my age who have experienced life in the US for the past 70 -80 years, there is a com- mon theme they relate. All of them practically agree that discipline during their elementary and high school years was strongly enforced, and teachers and principals were very much respected and feared. Educators were not subjected to threats by parents or guardians, and Scripture reading was part of the cur- riculum. They lament the fact that the inclusion of faith practices were gradually phased out and then out- lawed. Corporal punishments for more serious offenses were was imple- mented then without legal repercus- sions. I often hear the comment, " Once faith practices were taken off the school curricu- la, fear of authority gradual- ly disappeared and violence increased." Have you ever heard the question, "Where was God when these violent events happened? " And God an - swered, " Well, you did not want Me in your schools and society. You took Me out. So now, bear the fruits of your desires." ••• I am not an expert in the field of reporting or research in the field My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Know love, know peace. No love, no peace. Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Give Me a Break By John Stossel Biden's California dream Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore States fight back against Biden's war on the west Glad Lent is over There is much Christian disciples can do to enhance his/her walk with God that is not "Commanded," How- ever, the most important commands given by Jesus to His followers are • LOVE GOD • Love Your Neighbor • Love The Brotherhood. Do you discern a pattern? The scripture reminds the faithful that seeking God is a commandment and the means as which you accom- plish this is wide-open! To say "I am glad Lent is over" misses the mark of the calling of dis- cipleship! Lent is about following a self-im- posed discipline. The apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Rome to live as a living sacrifice: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bod- ies a living sacrifice, holy, accept- able to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and ac- ceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a mea- sure of faith." A rich paraphrase of the previous passage admonishes the disciple to serve God with rich spiritual gifts. Did I mention there are Christians among us who proclaim "that Lent is over and they are glad? " If this is your feeling then you failed at under- standing why the Church observes it! Paul was just warming up in Ro- mans – Now allow this writer to cut to the chase as we examine Christian discipleship as it is lived daily. The letter to the Church at Corinth likewise stresses a patter/life of self-sacrifice and denial; yet he had his eyes fixed upon the Prize of Je- sus. Paul asked this question and was able to reply with assurance: What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gos- pel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. The Gospel as presented is not a revolutionary force to overthrow the corrupt Romans, but to nurture all men and women to serving one an- other in spiritual peace and joy! Paul will connect himself to the Gospel without apology; Paul writes "I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are un- der the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; …"To those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; …"To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. Paul's conclusion is he became all things to all men, that many who he ministered Christ to will be saved. The lesson of Lent is Paul uses an analogy of runners and boxers…"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an im- perishable crown. Paul tells the Church at Corinth that …"I run thus: not with un- certainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air." However before he closes this let- ter he again admonishes the faithful to live a life of self-denial- …"But I discipline my body and bring it in- to subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Consider the importance of com- munion the next time you spend in fellowship with Him as you receive the grace of God through receiving and accepting the elements of Grace. Of the many days of Lent – What do you remember? What a shame if nothing! Think about it! I was surprised to read (in The Los Angeles Times) that the Biden administration's "role model for America" is... California! He wants to "Make America California." That's is a terrible idea. Californians now rush to move out of California. Some hopeful folks still move there, but so many more leave that California now loses more than 10,000 citizens every month. In fact, the state will soon lose a congressio- nal seat. Why do Californians leave? "Exor- bitant tax rates, high crime rates, the failing public school systems, the ex- orbitant cost of living," says reporter Kristen Tate in my new video. So many Californians move away that there's now even a shortage of U-Hauls. Renting one to go from Los Angeles to Houston costs four times as much as it does to go from Houston to L A. "People are just emptying out! " says Tate. But this seems crazy. California has great weather and all kinds of nat- ural advantages. The state's poli- ticians drive people away with bad policies. Asked by Stossel T V whether it's a bad idea for President Joe Biden to "make the U.S. more like Califor- nia," Governor Gavin Newsom's of- fice replied with a statement saying, "Before the COVID pandemic, Cali- fornia saw job growth and record low unemployment." Wow. Really? Oh, it was a record for Cal- ifornia. Before the pandem- ic, the state's unemployment was 12th worst in America. Now, it's 3rd worst. The statement continues, "We remain the fifth larg- est economy in the world... home to 20 of Fortune's fast- est growing companies." But that only means California was hospitable to business years ago. Now Oracle, Tesla and many other companies are moving operations to other states. A big reason is California's oner- President Ronald Reagan used to refer to our country as "these Unit- ed States," not "the United States." That may seem to be an inconse- quential grammatical difference, but a whole different philosophy of our system of government is embedded in that phraseology. Reagan rein- forced the traditional notion of Amer- ican federalism: that the states cre- ated the federal government, not the other way around. The states are to serve as "labo- ratories of democracy." Our Found- ing Fathers' ingeniousness was rec- ognizing that healthy competition among the states was the best way to devise policy solutions. This brings us to President Joe Biden. No president in modern times, perhaps ever, has shown such contempt for our system of federal- ism. So I was thrilled to see this headline from, of all places, Alaska: "Dunleavy Tells Feds Alaska Is Taking Over Man- agement of 800,000 Miles of River." Alaska is assert- ing its right as a state to control its lakes and rivers. Gov. Mike Dun- leavy is so fed up, and he has asked the Biden administration to "stop bothering Alaskans." Bravo. We need governors and state law- makers to show much more of this peaceful defiance when Washing- ton oversteps. That's hap- pening a lot lately. Biden has declared no more drilling on federal lands in the West, and this federal directive will cost these states potentially tril- lions of dollars. The authori- ties are also planning to take millions of acres of land in the West out of development. The Biden team wants to overturn state right-to-work laws that have been a half-centu- rylong tradition in most Western states. The Treasury Department has even now asserted authority to intervene and stop states, such as Heritage Viewpoint By Matthew Dickerson Tax increases would reverse Trump's cuts A message from a Delta Diamond Flyer The controversy surrounding the new voting law in the state of Geor- gia raises important issues regard- ing the governance of our country and the role of corporations. Corporations are big and have a lot of economic clout, so there is justi- fied concern about them abusing this economic power. It's why there are such strict lob- bying laws in Washington. We want to make sure that corporations don't step over the line of representing their legitimate interests in legiti- mate ways. Corporations such as Atlan- ta-based Delta are now falling over themselves to see who can be the most zealously out front and con- demn Georgia's new voting law. A fter President Biden, who called the new Georgia law "Jim Crow on steroids," suggested that Major League Baseball pull the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, MLB Com- missioner Rob Manfred wasted lit- tle time to announce plans to do just that. But isn't the key issue about the "democracy" of the voting law? And wasn't Georgia's law passed by a democratically elected state legisla- ture and signed into law by a dem- ocratically elected governor? Who are these multinational businesses to condemn what Georgians passed into law by their own state democ- racy? Who is Major League Base- ball to use its economic clout to pun- ish Georgians for a voting law that was passed legitimately and legally through the machinery of their own democracy? According to Statista, 32 % of Ma- jor League Baseball fans are Repub- licans, 38 % are Democrats, and 30 % are independents. Manfred report- edly earns $11 million in compen- sation to serve this diverse group of fans what they want — great base- ball. One widely quoted businessman now claims Atlanta will lose $100 mil- lion in tourist revenue as a result of pulling the game. Who is hurt here, and why? When CEOs speak out in the name of their company, they are not speak- ing as private citizens but as an em- ployee of their company. They are paid to serve customers and produce value for owners — shareholders. I happen to have Delta Million Mil- er Status and Diamond Medallion Status. I make considerable effort to adjust my flight plans so I can main- tain this status. It does not please me at all to dis- cover that Delta CEO Ed Bastian does not spend every waking minute of his time on the job making sure customers like me get the best ser- vice possible. Somehow, Bastian and other cor- porate CEOs have mistakenly con- cluded that they are being paid tens of millions for their opinions on vot- ing law and matters concerning black Americans. As a black American and Delta Diamond traveler, I disagree with everything I have heard from Bastian on both these matters, and I urge him to spend his time on what he is paid to do. Here's what famed economist Mil- ton Friedman had to say on the sub- ject in his classic text "Capitalism and Freedom": "The view has been gaining widespread acceptance that corporate officials ... have a 'social re- sponsibility' that goes beyond serv- ing the interest of their stockhold- ers ..." He continues: "Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stock- holders as possible." In 2019, Delta had 91,000 employ- ees worldwide and around 30,000 in Atlanta. As private citizens, the 30,000 who live in Georgia can ex- ercise their political proclivities as they choose. In this way, Delta in- fluences local politics. However, the common interest of all Delta employ- ees worldwide is the economic wel- fare, the business, of the firm that pays them. No doubt it is the left-wing activ- ism of groups like Black Lives Mat- ter, and the Democrats with this TAX Court Down