Happy New Tax Year

People are going to be “very, very happy” with "the largest tax cut  in the history of our country.” “They're going to get tremendous, tremendous tax cuts and tax relief and that's what this country needs.”

For most, the tax reduction is no help at all.  

• For the bottom quintile, they'll get an extra $5/month, enough for two gallons of gas.
• For the middle quintile, it's about $77/month.  Enough for a family dinner out perhaps, but not enough for their health insurance or their kid's college.
• Top quintile folks will see and additional $7000 per year, and top 1% will get about $51,000 per year in additional after-tax income.

I imagine the rich folks will enjoy that $51,000 bonus, but I don't think they need it.

What would really be helpful ... reasonable wages, healthcare, education, mobility, opportunity ... for everyone.

Income increases have gone to the top, while costs of survival have increased and left half of our workforce behind.

I'm open to another interpretation of this tax reform, but similar policies in the past have had the same outcomes.

• Since the 80's, education costs have increased 600%
• Medical costs have increased 250%
• and wages have been stagnant for the middle and lower economic segments.

Corporate tax restructuring is indeed necessary to keep U.S. businesses on a reasonable footing in the international marketplace. 

Individual tax rates are already low compared to other developed nations. Tax relief for the wealthy is not what's needed, but rather perhaps  restraint of predatory finance (Wall Street and the Banks) and abusive wage practices (Walmart, et al, and fast food sellers).  Marketplace practices by pharmaceutical providers have been particularly harmful.

Reducing taxes for the wealthy is a political play, not a needed or helpful economic adjustment.  The latest congressional analysis predicts the plan will add one trillion to the deficit in the next decade.

What we'd like to see,
  a flourishing education system,
    an upwardly mobile workforce,
      an improving healthcare system,
        a thriving culture,
          and emerging social understanding, wisdom ...

Over the last forty years, we've watched inequality and poverty increase, indebtedness increase (to the benefit of the financial industry), and mobility decline ....
Our national identity is fractured,  and we're told yet again, it's just wonderful how well we're served.

Curious if there might be a higher standard for both citizens and nations?
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Things to watch in the coming years:
Where does the wealth go ... to the top or shared reasonably?
Quality of education on an international scale ...
Quality of healthcare on an international scale ...
Middle-class and the American dream ... nearer or farther away.
And who gets left behind?  Years ago, we worked hard to make sure our children, at least, were equipped for life and growth, but the issue became political rather than human, didn't it.

And, what are our national goals?

The man comes around ...

"And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw, and behold a white horse"

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reachin' down
When the man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup
Or disappear into the potter's ground?
When the man comes around

Hear the trumpets hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singin'
Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Some are born and some are dyin'
It's alpha and omega's kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

Till armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the man comes around

Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the man comes around

Hear the trumpets hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singin'
Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettledrum
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Some are born and some are dyin'
It's alpha and omega's kingdom come
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn trees
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks
In measured hundredweight and penny pound
When the man comes around

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked, and behold a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him"

Johnny Cash wrote and performed this, among the last of his works before he died.  It's taken partly from Revelations Chapter 22.  
The apostle John had a particularly difficult time describing what he'd seen and heard, but what was clear through it all ... there is a divide, and somehow, we choose deliberately.
As the Christmas season draws to a close, it's worth remembering, there's more to a story than just the beginning.

I was a stranger ...

The crisis today is the largest in the history of the world with 65+ million driven from their homes, more than half of whom are children (UNHCR).  Thousands have died along the way.  If you're struggling for how to pray, here's a suggestion.

O God, our help in ages past, you led the Israelites through the wilderness.

Guide these who flee for their lives, as they board boats and trucks and cross fences, as they carry their children and walk for miles, protect them, Lord.

Our hope for years to come, you created us all for life, to find meaning, to know love, to seek after you.

We pray for these who have lost hope, safety, and faith.
For parents whose precious children are lost or have died.
For children who are struggling without food, water, and safety.
For communities abandoned and for communities overwhelmed.
Oh God, bring help and hope.

Our shelter from the stormy blast, you are the one who brings peace.  You protect us under your wings.

We pray for an end to the tyranny of ISIS, to the violence in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, in Myanmar.  
Protect those who haven’t yet found a way out.
We pray for the hearts of those who intend to kill.
We pray for the eyes of the world to turn toward this injustice.
Give wisdom to the leaders who now must choose how to bring peace.

Our eternal home, in you we find hope and help, for this life and for the next.

For those who have lost everything, we pray you will rebuild their lives.
For those in danger, open the doors to a safe place.
For those hungry and thirsty, restore their livelihood.
For those whose communities and families have been ripped apart, strengthen them with new bonds of fellowship.
And for the church, near and far, which worships in safety today -- inspire us to welcome the stranger.

Help us see how to reach out to refugees with mercy and how to pursue justice for them all.

Amen.

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Refugees continue to pour into Kenya, our friends tell us.

You can pray and help too -- World Vision Refugee Crisis Fund and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

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Peace, peace, peace on earth we pray.

Momentary IQ Loss

Capital Beltway - safe following distance at 50 mph.  🤣 ... 70+mph is the norm, of course.

Green - safer.  Red - depends on no one making any mistakes or doing anything stupid.

Given the opportunity to choose between holding a two-ton boulder over some unknown person's head or keeping your distance, most would probably choose the latter ... except when driving in traffic.

Typical reaction time is 0.25 - 0.7 seconds.  If the fellow in front of you puts on his brakes, the brake lights are your visual cue, and you'll begin to react after that time interval.  Good enough?  Maybe not.

Research shows typical reaction time from stimulus to max braking is 2 seconds or more.  At 50 mph, that's half a football field, or 10+ car-lengths that you'll travel before you start to slow down.  If the guy in front breaks hard, you'll hit him, and legally it will be your fault.


Joining the competition in a traffic swarm can momentarily reduce your IQ to match that of the moron tailgating behind you and the idiots cutting in front of you.  You'll be tempted to close the gap ahead to keep your place.

Following too closely is considered aggressive driving and is a leading cause of accidents in most states.   It's also reported as behavior likely to elicit road rage.  Most states define safe distance as 2 or 3 seconds separation.

A reasonable alternative?  The 2-second rule allows you to flow with traffic.  Aggressive drivers will beat you by perhaps 3-5 minutes in a typical commute.  It isn't worth it. 

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(I was embarrassingly far into my adult years before I could say, "I don't care" about traffic congestion or rude drivers.  These days, it's a needed reminder on the DC beltway every week as we go to visit our granddaughter ... we'll gladly take an extra 5 minutes to get there safely.)

$50,000 a day

Data compiled and reported by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Spend $50 a day and live well.  That's normal for the wealthy.

So, if you spend $500 or $5,000 a day, it starts to get really strange.

When you reach $50,000, that's what you'd have to spend every day for fifty years to use up a billion dollars.

You could use that kind of wealth to influence government and manipulate the marketplace.  That way, you get millions more, and you can pump more wealth out of the world.  (We called them robber barons back in the early days of industry.  Today, they're the wealthy elite.)

Or you could use just what you need for a healthy life and use the rest to help others.  Some folks do that, and it makes a difference.

Is there any good path for the billionaires?  So far, 154 have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth for the common good.  Good for them.  

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They taught us about giving at church when I was a kid, and I thought it was just another religious rule.  Later, I discovered that most such 'rules' are practical advice for a healthy heart and that giving frees you from the insanity of always wanting more.  It brings balance to life, it frees you from the trap of fear, and it opens so many doors.  (Even a few billionaires have figured it out.)  Funny how that works. I guess there's more to faith than just being religious.  😏

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Spend $5 a day and survive, barely.  That's common, by the way, but it shouldn't be.  Incredible wealth flows up from lower echelons to the coffers of the wealthy.

The world needs to change, and in fact it is changing.  Extreme poverty (less than $2 per day) is declining -- that's improvement, but it's still a long way from being out of poverty.  Half of child mortality is from malnourishment;  22.9% of children under five are stunted.  More than half the world lives in significant deprivation.  

Justice and equality, national priorities, distribution and conservation, all must change, and most will of necessity.  Meanwhile, we have many opportunities to make a difference.

As for the 1,900 remaining billionaires and 14,600,000 millionaires ... we'll see.  
   Then there are the corporations whose only motive is profit.  
      They're richer than any individual and some are bigger than countries.

A Child's Future

Getting by or getting better, what occupies our days?  Life fills up quickly with mind-numbing routine, attending to work and meals and bills and kids and homework.  Days pass, and months, just getting by.

How might a child be inspired to greatness while living in such humdrum? 

Practically speaking, it won't happen.  Unless ...

Children will aspire to what they see in people they know and respect.  A good heart is a great role-model.  Encouragement and affirmation are powerful shapers.  Meaningful conversations (not lectures) about real life are powerful, and they're inspired by our honest efforts to learn and to become better people.

Education begins at home; core values are established there.  Schools often have difficulty supporting those values.  Issues of principle and character are furiously assaulted in the social arena. (ref)(ref)  It's a high-risk and difficult path to thoughtful adulthood; not everyone does well. (ref)

Teens are in the most turbulent period of identity development.  As they begin making their own choices, our best offering is to be an anchor of principle and values and acceptance.  Pray for them every day and for your own journey as well.

Circumstances can make it difficult for us to help our children mature; difficult, but perhaps not impossible.  Rich or poor, this culture or country or some other, who we are will still have the most impact on who they become.  Their vision for the future rises out of our vision for life and how earnestly we pursue it.  

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Children's ethics, principles, convictions, values, conscience, character, clarity, morality, and life goals come first from ours.