Page 2 The Skanner December 20, 2017
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Republican Tax Bill Robs the Poor to Feed the Rich
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
T
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Melanie Sevcenko
Reporter
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
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he Tax Cuts and Jobs
Act recently passed on
a nearly straight par-
ty line Republican vote
in the U.S. Senate is, like the
House-passed bill, a moral
abomination. Their enact-
ment would be the death of
America’s dream for tens
of millions of children. The
House and Senate bills favor
the wealthiest Americans and
most powerful corporations
over poor and moderate-in-
come children and families —
billionaires over poor babies
and powerful corporations
over poor children. They are
evil.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
warned that “America is go-
ing to hell if we can’t use her
vast resources to end pover-
ty and make it possible for
all of God’s children to have
the basic necessities of life.”
With both the U.S. Senate and
House of Representatives
now having passed extremely
unjust tax bills, I must ask—
how can 278 political leaders,
51 Senators and 227 House
members, act against the best
interests of so many in their
states and across our nation
to line the overstuffed pock-
ets of powerful special inter-
ests with government money?
What religious texts do
these Members of Congress
and those who lobby them
read? How did they miss the
clear warnings of the proph-
ets and gospels and tenets of
every great faith to care for
the poor, the sick, the lame
and the orphan? Where did
they learn that acting as Rob-
in Hood in reverse by denying
the poor and powerless child
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Children’s
Defense
Fund
the basic survival needs of
food and shelter to give to the
wealthy and powerful is ac-
ceptable?
There are 565 billionaires
in the United States — the 400
richest of whom have a com-
bined net worth of $2.7 tril-
lion. More than 13.2 million
“
They will
deny poor
and moder-
ate-income
children
and families
healthcare,
food, housing,
child care and
other surviv-
al assistance
children — 1 in 5 — live in pov-
erty in America. Their fam-
ilies of four make less than
$24,563 a year. More than six
million children live in deep
poverty, at less than half the
poverty level.
A majority of both houses of
Congress and the Trump Ad-
ministration seek policies to
reward millionaires and bil-
lionaires and non-needy cor-
porations and add nearly $1.5
trillion — around $150 billion
a year for the next ten years
— to our national deficit to do
so. And to pay for it, they will
deny poor and moderate-in-
come children and families
healthcare, food, housing,
child care and other survival
assistance or help parents get
needed jobs at livable wages
to support their families.
Consider some of the facts
about these tax cut bills:
• Both the Senate and House
bills lavishly benefit the
wealthiest households and
individuals. The Senate
bill doubles the estate tax
threshold, enabling individ-
uals to inherit tax free up to
$11 million and couples up
to $22 million. The House
bill would eliminate the es-
tate tax entirely.
• More than 60 percent of the
Senate bill’s individual tax
cuts in 2027 go to the rich-
est one percent of house-
holds making $1 million or
more; 48 percent of cur-
rent tax-paying households
would face tax increases ac-
cording to the Tax Policy
Center. The Senate bill ends
individual tax benefits af-
ter ten years while making
permanent tax cuts for cor-
porations. The House bill
continues both individual
and corporate tax cuts.
• The Senate’s $1,000 Child
Tax Credit increase to ben-
efit families with children
and make up for elimina-
tion of the personal exemp-
tion for dependents pro-
vides little or no assistance
to poor and middle-income
working
families. Yet,
both the Senate and House
bills enable higher income
families to qualify for the
credit for the first time.
Neither Senate nor House
bills make the credit fully
refundable to help working
families with the lowest in-
comes. Both bills would end
eligibility of children in
low-income working immi-
grant families for the cred-
it without Social Security
Numbers. Tax paying immi-
grant families are required
currently to have only an
Individual Taxpayer Identi-
fication Number to qualify
for the Child Tax Credit.
• The Senate’s permanent
corporate tax cuts are par-
tially paid for by repealing
the Affordable Care Act’s
individual mandate and
tax penalty. This will leave
13 million fewer people
insured in ten years, raise
health insurance premiums
for many more and desta-
bilize the health insurance
marketplace.
• The $1.5 trillion ten-year
deficit the House and Sen-
ate bills create will cause
deep cuts in Medicaid, the
Supplemental Nutrition As-
sistance Program (SNAP),
child care, education, Pell
Grants, housing and other
critical child services.
• No funds will be left over
for the next decade to end
child poverty for the more
than 13.2 million children
struggling to grow up
healthy and educated.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Lessons from the African American Vote in Alabama
T
Local News
Pacific NW News
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Marian
Wright
Edelman
he African Americans
who have convinced
themselves that one vote
doesn’t matter, should
take a very close look at what
happened during the recent
special election in Alabama.
In spite of the endorsement of
President Donald Trump and
the extremely conservative
White voters who supported
Roy Moore, Doug Jones, the
Democratic candidate won
the for the United States Sen-
ate seat vacated by Attorney
General Jeff Sessions. Jones
was the first Democrat elected
to represent Alabama in the
U.S. Senate in 25 years. How
he won is very important to
African Americans across
this nation.
Exit polls showed that 98
percent of African American
women who voted supported
Jones and 93 percent of Afri-
can American men who voted
chose the Democratic candi-
date. The Jones’ victory by 1.5
percent clearly shows that,
without the Black vote, Jones
wouldn’t have won the special
election. Equally important is
Dr. John E.
Warren
NNPA
Columnist
the fact that this degree of Af-
rican American voter partic-
ipation in an off-season spe-
cial election, demonstrates
what we can do, when we
choose to get involved. Afri-
can Americans cannot allow
“voter suppression” tactics,
like additional photo identifi-
cation requirements, to deter
us from going to the polls.
According to Nonprofit
VOTE, “In all but two states,
voting age citizens convicted
of a felony are barred from
voting for some period of
time.” In Washington, D.C., Ha-
waii, Illinois, Indiana, Mas-
sachusetts, Michigan, Mon-
tana, New Hampshire, North
Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Penn-
sylvania,
Rhode
Island,
and Utah, the voting rights
of returning citizens are re-
stored automatically once
they’re released. In Florida,
Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia,
ex-offenders are forced to pe-
tition the government to have
their voting rights restored.
African Americans are dis-
proportionately affected by
voter suppression tactics and
laws that deny ex-felons the
“
We should be
focused on
‘voter regis-
tration’ and
not candidate
endorse-
ments at this
stage of the
game
right to vote; that’s why we
should be focused on “voter
registration” and not candi-
date endorsements at this
stage of the game. We cannot
allow apathy and indifference
to take the place of the hard
won battle for voter partici-
pation on the part of African
Americans. Just as we ral-
lied and voted for President
Barack Obama, we must ral-
ly and vote against the poli-
cies and political candidates
promoted by the Trump Ad-
ministration. We have to do
whatever it takes to defeat
those who would continue to
support a system of economic
inequality dressed up as tax
reform that ultimately harms
the majority of Americans.
Jones’ victory in the special
election in Alabama demon-
strates that Black votes mat-
ter and that Black voters cast
crucial votes in elections,
where White voters are de-
cidedly split; that’s the real
lesson. We make our victories
and define our value. Let’s not
let others do that for us. Ev-
ery Black vote counts and can
make a difference in the Deep
South and across the nation.
Dr. John E. Warren is the pub-
lisher of the San Diego Voice
and Viewpoint and a con-
tributing writer for the NNPA
Newswire specializing in inter-
governmental affairs.
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