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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2009)
November II. 2009 PageAò Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news @ portlandobserver. com. Time to Support Real Health Reform M ake your voices heard M aki H. M okial A fric a n A m e r i cans, w ho have the h ig h e s t r a te s o f chronic disease and m ake up the largest p e r c e n ta g e o f th e uninsured, should be especially pleased that in the last few w eeks. Congress has acted to bring us closer than ever to com prehensive health care legislation that will make health insurance accessible and affordable for all. The U.S. House o f Represen tatives has unveiled its version o f health care reform . P revi ously, the Senate announced it is nearing the introduction of by its own bill. Both bills are d e signed to low er costs, and pro vide more security and stabil ity for people w ho already have health in suran ce an d to provide affordable insur ance to those who don't. T h e H o u se b ill p r o v id e s the best sta rtin g point. It covers m ore of the uninsured , and also includes m easures to in crease health care equity by ex panding M edicaid eligibility, protecting M edicare, m aking new investments in com m unity health centers and p roviding free preventive services. The House bill also contains a public option provision that still needs to be improved. That is w hy the N a tio n a l U rb a n League along with the C ongres sional Black C aucus and the Black Leadership Forum, an al liance o f m ore than 30 African A merican civil rights and ser vice organizations, have joined forces to ensure that a final bill includes a Robust Public O p tion like Medicare. issue o f affordability. T he H ouse bill's public op tion w ould negotiate paym ent rates with health care provid ers. T hat's not good enough. We believe that only a robust public option like Medicare will No triggers. No opt out. We need a robust public option like Medicare. Access to an option for gov ernm ent-issued health care will provide com petition for private health providers, low er costs and help to close the healthcare gap. We m ust be wary o f im posing a m andate for health in surance without addressing the actually expand accessibility and low er costs, not only for A frican A m ericans, but for all Americans. But, now that C on gress has spoken, it is tim e for the A m erican people to make their voices heard. T he B lack L ead ersh ip F o Making Money and Paying a $10 Tax W hether or not one thinks that Oregon has gone too far Some o f them use tax subsidies in handing out tax subsidies — credits — to reduce their tax (there's good reason to think so), w hether or not one thinks liability to zero. But the vast majority o f prof th at the loss carry -fo rw ard itable C -corporations that have rule is a good one (there are paid only the m inim um tax rely valid justifications for it) and on the tax code accounting rule w hether or not Oregon should known as "loss carry forward," ignore a C-corporation's O r w hich allow s corporations to eg o n p ro p erty an d p ay ro ll apply losses from prior years w hen a p p o rtio n in g tax ab le to the current y ear to reduce incom e to Oregon (there's no their Oregon taxable incom e to g o o d a r g u m e n t fo r th a t schem e), the fact rem ains that zero or less. In other w ords, these co m a significant num ber o f prof panies m ade money in the tax itable corporations are paying year, but paid just $ 10 in income only the $ 10 minim um corpo taxes because at some point in rate income tax. M easure 67 w ould not end the n o t-to o -d ista n t past they the system that allow s C-cor- lost m oney and are allow ed to porations to keep tw o sets o f subtract those earlier losses to books. It w ould not stop tax make their current profits dis subsidies nor prevent profit appear for tax liability purposes. able C-corporations from pay Finally, a few corporations ing just a m inim um tax. use a com bination o f tax cred T he m easure would, how its and the loss carry-forw ard rule to get to the $ 10 minimum. ever, put an end to the $10 corporate m inim um tax that And it's not necessarily cor tw o out o f three C -corpora porations with only a few hun tions have been paying. So com e January, when O r dred or a few thousand dollars o f profits that manage to reduce egonians vote "yes" on M ea their taxable income to zero or sure 67, they will be saying, less on corporate tax returns. "Y es, a ll C - c o r p o r a tio n s Indeed, am ong those that paid sh o u ld pay m o re th an ju st only the $10 minimum tax in 2(XI6 $10." Charles Sheketoffis execu were 31 C-corporations with tax able incom e o f $1 m illion or tive director o f the Oregon Center fo r Public Policy. more. C orporations use system to pay the m inim um by C harles S heketofe come." But that's wrong. If you ask a corporation, ''Did Some corporations paying the you make m oney last year?” its response may well be, "W ho's $10 m inim um have incom e, though they may or may not asking?" It's no secret that co rp o ra have "taxable income." W hat is "taxable incom e?" tions keep tw o sets o f books, one for shareholders and one It's the term used by the IRS to for tax authorities. Those books define the incom e left after a em ploy different definitions of co m p an y su b tra c ts b u sin e ss w hat it m eans to m ake money, expenses and other deductions which explains why in the same u n d e r ta x c o d e a c c o u n tin g y ear co rp o ratio n s can report rules, not general accounting p ro fits to s h a re h o ld e rs and rules — "profits for tax p u r have no taxable income on their poses," in plain English. Acts by the Legislature can tax returns. It also explains why som e fi change a com pany's "taxable n an c ia lly healthy, p ro fitab le income," even if real-world prof corporations doing business in its rem ain the sam e. F or in O regon end up paying the cor stance, O regon stopped look ing at the extent o f payroll and porate minimum tax. T hat's not w hat you'll hear property that m ultistate corpo from some o f the opponents o f rations have in Oregon to ap M easure 67 on the January bal portion the share o f their total lot. That m easure w ould raise U.S. profits that Oregon can tax. L arg e m a n u fa ctu re rs w ith O regon's corporate m inim um tax, which has been stuck at $ 10 people and property here saw their Oregon "taxable income" for over 75 years. C onsider, for exam ple, the — and thus tljeir O regon tax li statem ent by A sso ciated O r ability — drop significantly, with egon Industries lo bbyist J.L. no impact on the pre-tax profits W ilson at a recent legislative the c o rp o ra tio n s rep o rted to com m ittee hearing on the bal shareholders. Corporate profits lot language. He said that the for tax purposes w ent dow n, ballots should include the state not real profits. So how do so many profit ment that "com panies that pay the corporate m inim um tax do a b le C -c o rp o ra tio n s en d up so because they have no in paying the $10 m inim um tax? rum , w hich 1 chair, is en c o u r ag ing citiz en s to flood C o n gress w ith visits, e-m ails, tele p hone calls, faxes an d social media, to make our point clear: N o trig g ers. N o o pt out. We n eed a ro b u st p u b lic o p tio n like M edicare. To m ake your voice heard, call your Senator at 202-224- 3121 or e-mail www.senate.gov. You can reach your C ongress man in the House o f Represen tatives by calling 202-225-3121 ore-m ailing ww w.house.gov. A r e c e n t H a rv a rd s tu d y d o c u m e n ts th a t m o re th a n 45,000 A m ericans die each year due to lack o f health insurance. And w hile this is an issue af fecting all A m ericans, it is es p e c ia lly c ritic a l fo r A frican A m ericans. M ore than 1 in 5 A frican A m ericans are without M A R K E T better ta the (Seditar Rain but Still a Game pitched so fast at first, but d e S o m e p eo p le d o n 't know livery has been so slow, that no where to start and others do not one seem s to know if there is know how to not sw ing. A l en ough speed to reach hom e though I hesitated to pick up this plate. bat, I knew that it was time for Within die same delivery cycle, someone to pitch hit before the Tri-Met Rider Advocates were clean-up batter came up. on the chopping block while the Therefore, as a self-designated M ayor welcomed the arrival o f a hitter, there is no incertitude. I new, same day Amtrak service know both how and w here to b e tw e e n P o rtla n d an d swing in order to get on base. Vancouver, British Columbia. Oftentimes hitters of such cali I know that these are different ber are deliberately walked. But agencies cooperating in an in w hatever type p itch er on the ternational playing field. M ore mound, they usually get on base. over, in terms of ongoing trans O nce there, no on e w onders actions, tw o local entities col w h o ’s on first? T hey will be laborate in a Free Ride Zone. closely w atched because they Maybe if half-fares were charged are also know n from scouting dow ntow n, w here m ost riders reports for their running capa can afford to pay, the Tri-M et Advocates could still be w ork bilities. O ver the past few weeks the ing and “m onitoring potential M ajor Baseball L eagues have flash points" around their former had a series o f playoff gam es, base o f operations. One other pitch delivered, a leading to the World Series. Si multaneously, there has been a dead-locked percentage curb, lot o f pitching, sw inging and had another mayor fighting for pitch hitting in the local politi ‘his political life because o f a controversial stance on tolls for cal arena. A rticles appearing in local a new 1-5 bridge over the Colum Portland newspapers have been bia River." To keep this $4.2 billion Co very interesting to fans, key play ers and bystanders in both left lumbia River crossing project on and right fields. Rookies in the track, political heads might be dugouts and custom ers sitting rolling. 1 wonder if the $472,000 in the last row o f the Centerfield non-renewed contract terminat bleachers are seeing the game ing the Rider Advocates, in com parison, could even be consid even during rainy innings. Starting in late A ugust a co n ered as a drop in the bucket of sid e ra b le n u m b e r o f p itc h es this political rain game. Tipping my Yankee cap, 1 bid h a v e b e e n th ro w n to w a rd s home plate and around the hom. you all so long and a fare well. O.B.HiU O ne is H 1N 1, better known as Community Historian “ sw in e flu " . T h is b a ll w as N O W D E L IV E R IN G Y o u r fa v o r ite n e ig h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s to r e n o w d e liv e r s g r o c e r ie s r ig h t to y o u r h o m e o r o ffic e . * *»Y Marc H. Mortal is president and chief executive officer o f the National Urban League. Lobbyists Take a Soak, On Us And public needs go down the drain NEW S E A S O N S J A**' health insurance, we have the highest rates o f chronic disease and we spend a higher percent age o f our incom e on health care. Clearly, passage o f co m p re hensive health care reform is not only an econom ic im pera tive; it is a moral imperative and a m atter o f life and death, espe cially for Black America. The N a tio n a l U rb a n L e a g u e , th e C o n g r e s s io n a l B lack C au cu s and the B lack L ead ersh ip F orum are w o rk ing h ard for a ro b u st P ublic O ption like M edicare and a fi nal bill that is w orthy o f the A m e r ic a n p e o p le . We a re clo se, b u t w e need y o u r su p port to get to the fin ish line. 3i cœsn w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m you click, we deliver, (or pull up for pick up) ber o f corporate lobbyists in W ashington, D .C . A dding to their clout are the thousands of corporate ex ecu tiv es w ho je t into o u r n atio n 's cap ital city p erio d ically for c lo se d -d o o r sessions with key law m akers and regulators. If you w onder w hy such c ry ing public needs as health care for all and environm ental pro tection are constantly bent to serve private corporate inter ests, look to this arm y o f hired guns and executive-suite d an dies. But let's concede that influ e n c e - p e d d lin g c a n be h ard work. Such tasks as glad-hand- ing and passing out cam paign contributions-that'll tucker you out. That's why the Ritz-Carlton is so crucial to the system. This sw ank hotel is a W ashington oasis for frazzled lobbyists and executives. F or one thing, no ta c k y to u r is ts are th e re to bother the sw ells, since room rates at the Ritz start at $599 a nig h t and run up to $5.800. T hen there're the little touches. For exam ple, where else do guests get a "Bath M enu" in their room ? "C hoose from an a s s o rtm e n t o f b u tle r-d ra w n baths to ease your concerns," says the menu. "A personal at tendant will be pleased to draw the bath o f your choice." T he m enu offers T he Inau gural Bath, with mineral salts "from the depths of the bright blue sea"; T he C apitol Bath, with lavender, sea salts, and a libation o f your choice; and The Cherry Blossom Bath-actually, rose petals are substituted for cherry, but you do get a glass o f cham pagne and strawberries. Each bath adds 50 bucks to the hill o f the soaking influence peddler. But hey, as the Bath M enu explains, a little rub-a- dub-dub is no, an expense, it's "a rew ard at the end o f a suc cessful business day." They soak us, then they take a soak, w riting the w hole thing o ff as the cost o f doing busi ness. Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author o f Swim against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can go with the Flow.