The Milwaukee Post

January 26, 2018 • Milwaukee County Post • 9 Health commissioner can't be only one who failed on children's lead levels notice To the editor: As the Common Council begins to explore the width and breadth of the Milwaukee Health Department's failure to properly notify thousands of families that their children had elevated levels of lead in their blood, one date will be foremost in my mind: Dec. 28. On that date, Mr. Benjamin James, a Health Department employee, e-mailed all 15 members of the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett expressing his con- cerns about the way lead testing was being conducted and the results reported. His concerns were taken seriously enough that then-Commissioner Bevan Baker sent a widely distributed e-mail that same day — Dec. 28 — offering assurances that the matter was being investigated. On Jan. 4, however, Alderman Michael Murphy sent a letter to the commissioner describing the issues raised by Mr. James as "disturbing" and asking what action had been taken to correct the mistakes of the past and ensure they would not be repeated. No prompt response to this inquiry has been made a part of the record. And for months now, Alderman Tony Zielinski has had to fight a seemingly unending battle to get a resolution through the Public Safety and Health Committee dealing with this issue. Even once it was adopted, he continued to say that little was being done to implement its requirements. Add all this to the reports of employees leaving the department in large numbers and the impression given is of an agency in disarray. Commissioner Baker has resigned. The idea, however, that all this dysfunction can be placed at the feet of one man is absurd. Others must be held to account and will be. In the end, though, the commissioner of the health department is an office in the Cabinet of this city's mayor. Surely the mayor has an obligation to know what is working and is not in those departments under his care. And, if the commissioner's resignation on Jan. 11 is to be taken as an end-point, more should have been said and done in the two full weeks from the release of Mr. James' e-mail. A certain slowness of response is so typical of government that it is nearly a cliche; and in trivial matters it is bearable, if annoying. In matters of this urgency it is intolerable. My own questions concerning all this will touch on many subjects, but I will have Dec. 28 on my mind and I will be expecting an answer from the mayor. Alderman Bob Donovan Milwaukee OPINION LETTERS TO THE EDITOR By OWEN B. ROBINSON Even the most optimistic of supporters of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act President Trump signed into law just before Christmas did not anticipate the immediate and substan- tial impact it would have in the lives of so many low-income and middle-class Americans. American businesses are rac- ing to announce their plans for their tax savings and over 2 million Americans are already going to receive a substantial bonus thanks to tax reform. There were two major thrusts of the Republican tax reform plan, but they rested on the same principle. That principle is that the quickest path to economic growth and prosperity for individual Americans is to allow them to keep more of their own money and spend it where they choose. This principle runs contrary to the totali- tarian notion that has been popular in the past several years that a group of central planners should collect Americans' wealth through forced taxation and redistribute it back into the economy as they see fit. The first thrust of the tax reform plan was a reform of individual taxes to allow Americans to send less money to Washington. Individual tax rates were low- ered, the standard deduction was raised, the Obamacare individual mandate was repealed, the child tax credit was increased and other changes were made to the tax laws with the goal of lower- ing the overall tax bur- den for most taxpayers. The effect of these changes has yet to be seen. Americans are likely to see more take- home pay beginning in February as the IRS adjusts withholding schedules to take less money out for the federal government. Some of the benefits of this part of the tax reform law will not be seen until 2019 when Americans file their federal taxes. As 2018 progresses, millions and millions of Americans will have a little more money in their pockets to spend on their priorities — not the priorities of politicians in Washington. The second major thrust of the Republican tax reform plan was to lower taxes on American businesses. Corporate taxes have been lowered from the confisca- tory maximum of 35 percent to a more aver- age 21 percent. The new law also lowered taxes for other business entities like sole proprietorships and partnerships. The new law made modifications to how businesses depreciate capital investments and changed the United States to a territorial tax system to make it easier for businesses to move their foreign earnings back to our shores. While many of the tax savings for busi- nesses will also not be realized for a while, businesses are already announcing their plans to invest the savings in their employ- ees, infrastructure and elsewhere. Americans for Tax Reform has been keep- ing a tally of the announcements. Here are a few examples: Aflac is increasing its 401(k) match from 50 percent to 100 percent and kicking $500 into every employee's 401(k). U.S. Bancorp is giving a $1,000 bonus to 60,000 employees, raising their base wage to $15 an hour and is giving $150 million to charities; Southwest Airlines is giving a $1,000 bonus to all of its 55,000 employees and $5 million additional charitable dona- tions. PNC is giving $1,000 bonuses to 47,500 employees, kicking in $1,500 to each employee's pension accounts, raising their base wage to $15 an hour and giving $200 million to charities. Nationwide Insurance is giving a $1,000 bonus to 29,000 employees and increasing 401(k) matching contributions for 33,000 employees. Fiat Chrysler is giving a $2,000 bonus to 60,000 employees and investing $1 billion in a factory in Michigan — creating 2,500 new jobs. Waste Management Inc. is giving $2,000 bonuses to 34,000 employees. The list goes on and on. The reasons are quite simple. Businesses operate in a competitive envi- ronment and need to invest their profits into their employees and infrastructure in order to remain competitive. And contrary to the demonizing rhetoric of Democrats, most businesses are run by decent people who do want to improve the world around them. As tens of millions of Americans see their wages increase, receive bonuses, and spend less on taxes thanks to the Republicans' tax reform law, they will invest that money into their own lives in a billion different ways. Some will spend a little more on their kids. Some will think about starting a business. Some will give a bit more to charity. Some will buy ammo. Some will blow it on lottery tickets and booze. The point is, however, that individ- ual Americans will be making their own choices to benefit their own lives. And come November, I suspect that many Americans will remember that not a single Democrat voted to allow Americans to keep more of their own money. (Owen B. Robinson is a West Bend resident whose column appears occasionally in The Milwaukee County Post. He can be reached at owen@bootsandsabers.com.) Americans see immediate impact from tax reform Robinson Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dan Muckelbauer, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by email to: dmuck@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words. Letters policy

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