The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1373596
D-4 Wednesday, May 19, 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 Birth dearth about values, not economics The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that births in the USA reached another histor- ic low in 2020. For the sixth consecutive year, the birth rate dropped — this time by 4 percent. The average annual drop in the five previous years was 2 percent. The rate at which American wom- en are having babies is way below the rate necessary to keep the population steady-state — that is, for the popu- lation not to shrink. A steady-state population requires a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman. In 2020, it was 1.64. Needless to say, for politicians, there is no problem that does not have a government solution, and the birth dearth is no exception. Both President Joe Biden and Sen. Mitt Romney have plans for bolster- ing American families. The presi- dent's American Families Plan pro- poses to spend a modest $1.8 trillion. Romney is pitching his Family Secu- rity Act, which proposes per-child government payments up to $1,250 per family per month. Romney writes in The Wall Street Journal, "Young people are marrying less and having fewer kids in part be- cause they don't feel confident about their job prospects and financial se- curity." But if less marriage and fewer chil- dren are the result of today's eco- nomic stress, why is it that in 1960, the fertility rate was 3.58 — more than double today's 1.64 — yet to- day's real per capita income, per the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, is over three times higher than it was in 1960? According to the Institute for Family Studies, in 2018, 35 percent of Americans ages 25 to 50 had nev- er been married. In 1970, only 9 per- cent in this age range had never been married. Is this because times got harder? I don't think so. Per capita income in 2018 was 2.4 times higher than it was in 1970. I don't think our young people are avoiding marriage and children be- cause of concerns about financial se- curity. I think they are avoiding marriage and children because they don't want marriage and children. In a Pew Research survey con- ducted in 2019, 16 percent said hav- ing children is essential for a man to have a fulfilling life, and 16 percent said marriage is essential for a man to have a fulfilling life, while 57 per- cent said "having a job or career they enjoy" is essential for a man to have a fulfilling life. Regarding women, 22 percent said having children is essential for a ful- filling life. Seventeen percent said marriage is essential for a fulfilling life. And 46 percent said "having a job or career they enjoy" is essential for a fulfilling life. What does it all mean? In 1960, 9.1 percent of our popula- tion was over age 65. By 2019, 16.2 percent of the population was over 65. A graying population, due to fewer and fewer children, means a shrink- ing portion of the population that is working and producing, and increas- ingly large numbers of elderly and retirees whom those working must support. Consider our Social Security sys- tem, where retirees' benefits are drawn from the payroll tax paid by working citizens. In 1945, there were 41.9 working citizens for every retir- ee. By 1950, this was down to 16.5 to 1. By 1990, it was 3.4 to 1. And as of 2013 (the latest data available), it was 2.8 to 1. Trustees of Social Security report that by 2034, 13 years from now, the system will only have sufficient rev- enue to pay 76 percent of the bene- fits due to retirees. Per the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2016, those age 65 and over consti- tuted 16 percent of our population yet represented 36 percent of all health care spending. The collapse of marriage, family and the national birthrate is the re- sult of the secularization of our cul- ture. Faith and values have been dis- placed by materialism and egotism. Welfare for the rich Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Heroes Act. House Democrats said it gives money to "governments who des- perately need funds." But it also gives lots of money to people who don't need funds. Maryland, which even The Wash- ington Post admits is "flush with cash," got enough extra money to pass a budget that "hands bonuses to every state worker." Even Atherton, California, where the median home price is $ 6 million, got Heroes Act money. "There was no means test! " com- plains Lisa Conyers, author of "Wel- fare for the Rich," in my latest video. Omni Hotels & Resorts received $ 68 million in loans. Major airlines got $25 billion in loans from the CARES Act. "Who wouldn't like to play San- ta Claus? " asks Conyers. "Who wouldn't like to just be able to give everybody some money? " Welfare for the rich didn't start with coronavirus relief bills. Politi- cians have done it for years, and a pandemic didn't stop them. Nevada politicians gave Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis $750 mil- lion for a new stadium. A stadium designer says Davis insisted on the very best, including natural grass on a field that "moves in and out of the building in one piece." Cool. But why didn't Davis pay for it himself? "I'm not a billionaire," he said. But he is. The team is valued at more than $ 3 billion, and Davis and his mom co-own 47% of it. Politicians screw taxpayers to build stadiums for lots of rich people. Minnesota gave the Minnesota Vi- kings $ 348 million for their new sta- dium. Santa Clara, California, gave the San Francisco 49ers $114 mil- lion, plus $ 850 million in loans. Team co-owner Denise York and her family are worth $ 3.5 billion, says Forbes. She ought to fund her own stadium. "The taxpayers often vote for this stuff," I say to Conyers, "so they must like it." "(T)hey're promised there's going to be all these jobs," she replies, "not only at the stadium but at the hotels that are going to rise up around the stadium." Politicians always promise that public investment will return more in benefits to taxpayers. But it's not true. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found new sta- diums bring in about $40 million in jobs and tax benefits, much less than the $188 million that taxpayers pay. Handouts to other corporations fare no better. Ohio politicians gave General Mo- tors millions in tax credits to keep its Lordstown plant open. GM then closed the plant. Politicians let GM keep a third of the money. Wisconsin gave nearly $ 3 billion in tax breaks to Foxconn because it promised to create 13,000 jobs. Now the company promises to create on- ly 1,454. "If you look at the cost of each job, it was a million dollars," Conyers points out. Actually, it was more than a mil- lion. Politicians often justify this cor- porate welfare by saying, "We didn't give cash, just tax breaks." But "If some big company is in that town and they are not paying property tax, that means every oth- er taxpayer is covering for them," Conyers points out. "(F)ire depart- ments still have to be paid for. Po- lice departments still have to be paid for. Schools still have to be paid for! " Then there's the farm subsidy scam. Both Republicans and Democrats eagerly give your money to agribusi- ness, even though farmers are now richer than the average American. The politicians claim the handouts are not a payoff for political contri- butions but to "make sure there's enough food to go around," since "farmers have no control over price fluctuations and the weather." But that's absurd. Other business- es adjust to price fluctuations and weather. America doesn't subsidize fruit and vegetable farmers — yet we have plenty of fruits and vegetables. The politicians claim they want to help "small family farms," but they give 90 % of the subsidies to the big- The U.S. economy peaked in late 2019 at $21 trillion. We are now re- markably 98 % back to where we were before the terrible COVID-19 pandemic slammed these shores 14 months ago. This rebound is one of the outstanding U.S. achievements in history. Since June of last year, the economy has rocketed by 34% in quarter 3 of 2020, 4.2 % in quarter 4 of 2020 and now 6.4% in the first three months of 2021. So far in this current quarter, growth is more than 10 % . Almost no one expected this. The Federal Reserve Board, the Con- gressional Budget Office and private Blue Chip forecasters declared this time last year that it wouldn't be until at least 2022 until the economy was at full force. The economy has spurt- ed at twice the pace the professional forecasters expected. What a shock: Former President Donald Trump proved the "experts" wrong again. The recovery from COVID-19 is all the more impressive given the eco- nomic malaise in Europe and Can- ada, which foolishly keep closing down their businesses, schools and stores. A New York Times headline said it well: "Eu- rope's Recession Contrasts Econom- ic Fortunes of U.S. Expansion." Since June, our economy has grown by more than one- third, while Euro- land has recorded two straight nega- tive quarters and is in a dreaded dou- ble-dip recession. Meanwhile, as Laf- fer Associates points out, Europe's unemployment rate is 8.2 % com- pared with 6.2 % here. Our northern neighbors in Canada are at 8.4% job- lessness. So, what did America do right un- der Trump, and why are we doing so much better than everyone else in the world? First, America is a can-do coun- try with the most resilient business owners in the world. They man- aged to soldier through this crisis even as their revenue flows tanked. Add to that the dedicated workers who kept our economy trudging for- ward during the depths of the pandemic. They are he- roes, too, in contrast to the folks who huddled on their couches watching Netflix in- side their homes. So many of the men and women who have kept our hospitals, stores, delivery trucks, factories, nursing homes and airports open have been immigrants. Thank you. Second, thanks to great gover- nors such as Ron DeSantis of Flor- ida and Kristi Noem of South Da- kota, red-state America minimal- ly closed down, and only for a short period. Red states stayed open, cut their unemployment rates to less than 5% and carried the U.S. econo- The Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Christians has taken a disturbing new turn. According to a recent Radio Free Asia report, Chi- nese Christians are being detained at secretive "brainwashing camps." Writing under the pseudonym of Li Yuese, a Chinese Christian de- tailed the conditions of his detention in a "transformation facility" where he was held for 10 months after the CCP raided his house church in Si- chuan province in 2018. Most of the prisoners held in these mobile facil- ities, operated by the United Front Work Department in collaboration with the state security police, have been taken from house churches that operate outside of state approval. Imprisoned in a windowless room without ventilation, Li was subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Unit- ed Front officials use intimidation, threats, and beatings to force detain- ees to renounce their faith. The re- pression was so brutal that Li tes- tified, "A fter you've been in there a week, death starts to look better than staying there." At his release, Li was in very poor health. He remains haunted by his experience. Imprisoning Christians in brain- washing camps is another step in the CCP's intensifying crackdown on religion. The CCP believes inde- pendent religious practice threatens its power. Under President Xi Jin- ping's policy of "Si- nicization," the par- ty seeks to conform religion to its politi- cal goals. Religious groups deemed to "disrupt public or- der" face severe monitoring and per- secution. The CCP's per- secution of Chris- tians has also in- volved demolishing churches and arresting leaders like Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019. Tibetan Buddhists are targeted through strict state surveillance, de- struction of religious sites, and mass eviction of clergy. More than 500 Ti- betans are currently held as political prisoners, including the Panchen La- ma, the Dalai Lama's intended suc- cessor. These concerns are height- ened by the CCP's new forced labor transfer policy, through which hun- dreds of thousands of rural Tibet- ans have been transported to "mil- itary-style" vocational training cen- ters. Uighur Muslims are subject to some of the worst abuses. Between 1.8 million and 3 million Uighurs have been interned in hun- dreds of political reeducation camps in Xinjiang Province since 2018. There, they face brutalities including forced labor, torture, sexual abuse, and forced abortion and ster- ilization. Hui Muslims have also witnessed tightening restrictions, including forced mosque closures and impris- onment of religious leaders. Meanwhile, Falun Gong members are reportedly subject to forced organ harvesting and extra- judicial imprisonment. A cornerstone of human rights, re- ligious freedom must remain a key priority of American foreign policy. The Trump administration made reli- gious freedom a focus, spearheading the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom that brought global leaders together to advance religious liber- ty. It also made use of Global Mag- nitsky, which allows the executive branch to sanction individuals and entities for human rights abuses. On the administration's last day, Secre- tary of State Mike Pompeo issued a genocide determination on the atroc- ities in Xinjiang. His successor, Ant- Race for the Cure By Star Parker Give Me a Break John Stossel Continued on page 5 I was trying to create something interesting for the readers to enjoy. I was running behind, since this week- end we came home late from a cere- mony held in Brownsburg Indiana. It was at my grandson's confirma- tion, which in our faith is a landmark for teens as they get blessed by Bish- op Thompson of Indianapolis. This ceremony marks the time they prom- ise to be faithful soldiers of Christ, and they get to choose a saint they hope to emulate. There were seventy candidates, teens whose age range is from 13 to 17. It was quite an impressive cere- mony as each one was called to the altar by the Bishop. Then the candi- dates are anointed with Holy Oil, and each one is asked to remain faithful to the Church and to Christ. The ceremony was about one and a half hours but it seemed to end too soon. The music was uplifting and very inspiring, and the candidates all looked elegant with their outfits and demeanor. The good thing about events like this is it gives a chance for our grandkids to visit and bond with their cousins, to play with them, and for ev- eryone to enjoy the meals prepared. My grandkids who live in Evans- ville got a chance to collect eggs from chickens my son's family rais- es, and very briefly pet the hens. One rooster who guards the hens got to show he was the boss. He start- ed to flap his wings and made a move to peck the kids. The weather was excellent so the grandkids got to play volleyball, run, use a zip line, and more. There were a few instances of bawling as they accidentally bumped each other, but brief crying spells were quickly healed by ice packs and hugs. Overall, it was a very good weekend. These are the events that the kids and the adults will treasure and remember, as we journey through the highways of life. I certainly would not miss this one, especially when my son said he would have us try a great Japanese restaurant in a nearby town. It was yummy. ••• I asked Siri on my I phone to tell me something about the musical con- test American Idol,and to my amaze- ment it says it had started in 2002. That's been 19 years ago. As I wrote the first section of my article, I watched the program, and it was hard to focus on what I was doing. My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. American Idol Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore Trump's super V-Shaped recovery Heritage Viewpoint By Olivia Enos Religious persecution in China intensifies Continued on page 5 Court