From the USA and about the USA. I am totally impartial
regarding US politics but this is another point of view to that which I have
been receiving in droves of late from the USA.
With the mainstream media in the hands of the mostly conservative wealthy,
it's difficult for average Americans to learn the truth about critical issues.
The following five conservative claims are examples of mythical beliefs that
fall apart in the presence of inconvenient facts:1. Entitlements are the Problem
Beyond the
fact that we're 'entitled' to Social Security and Medicare because we pay for
them, these two government-run programs have been largely self-sustaining while
supporting the needs of millions of Americans.
Medicare is much less costly
than private health care. Social Security, which functions with a surplus, would
not be in danger of a long-term shortfall if the richest 10% (those making over
the $106,800 cutoff) paid their full share.
The Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities recently reported that 91% of entitlements go to the elderly or
disabled, or to members of working households needing supplemental assistance.
Only 9% of entitlement dollars go to non-working but employable individuals, and
most of that is for medical care, unemployment, and survivor benefits.
2.
Charter Schools are the Answer
Free-market adherents have a lot of people
believing that the public school system needs to be 'saved' by charter schools.
That belief is not supported by the facts. A Stanford University study "reveals
in unmistakable terms that, in the aggregate, charter students are not faring as
well as their traditional public school counterparts."
A Department of
Education study found that "On average, charter middle schools that hold
lotteries are neither more nor less successful than traditional public schools
in improving student achievement, behavior, and school progress."
Charter
schools also take money away from the public system. For example, the Los
Angeles Unified School District loses nearly $7,000 in state money for each
student who transfers to a charter. In Florida, the entire $55 million budgeted
in 2011 for school maintenance went to charters. Governors in several states
plan to direct money to schools that serve upper-middle-income
families.
Furthermore, charter school teachers have fewer years of experience
and a higher turnover rate, and according to one study were less likely to be
certified.
Perhaps most damning are studies by the University of Colorado and
UCLA which found that some charter schools segregate students by race and
income. Said researcher Gary Miron of Western Michigan University, "Parents are
selecting schools where their child will experience less diversity."
3.
Corporate Taxes Are Too High
This one is easy. The facts can be found in
U.S. Office of Management (OMB) figures, which show a gradual drop over the
years in Corporate Income Tax as a Share of GDP, from 4% in the 1960s to 2% in
the 1990s to 1.3% in 2010. That's one-third of what it used to be.
Also
coming from the OMB is the percent of Total Tax Revenue derived from corporate
taxes. The corporate share has dropped from about 20% in the 1960s to under 9%
in 2010.
Finally, in a U.S. Treasury report of global competitiveness, it is
revealed that U.S. corporations paid only 13.4% of their profits in taxes
between 2000 and 2005, compared to the OECD average of 16.1%. A similar
PayUpNow.org analysis of 100 of the largest U.S. companies found that less than
10% of pre-tax profits in 2010 were paid in non-deferred U.S. federal income
taxes.
Corporate tax avoidance is rampant at the state level, too. A new
study by Citizens for Tax Justice, which evaluated 265 large companies,
determined that an average of 3% was paid in state taxes, less than half the
average state tax rate of 6.2%.
4. Jim Crow is Dead
Even though
white Americans are the nation's most frequent drug users and dealers, the
people in jail for these offenses are overwhelmingly black. In some states,
African Americans make up 80-90% of all drug offenders sent to prison.
As a
nation, we lead the world in rates of imprisonment, and drug offenses have
accounted for two-thirds of the increase in federal inmates.
Once drug users
are in prison, they're stigmatized for life. As stated by Michelle Alexander,
author of "The New Jim Crow": "Rather than rely on race, we use our criminal
justice system to label people of color "criminals" and then engage in all the
practices we supposedly left behind...Once you're labeled a felon, the old forms
of discrimination - employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of
the right to vote, and exclusion from jury service - are suddenly legal. As a
criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a black
man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow."
5. Poverty Is Declining
Everywhere
There's something disturbing about World Bank researchers
using mathematical functions to determine who's living in poverty. But
free-market fanatic The Economist liked the results, proclaiming that "poverty
is declining everywhere."
That's easy to say when the World Bank gets to set
its own poverty threshold, at $1.25 per day. The organization admits there was
little change in the number of people living below $2 per day between 1981 and
2008. And almost half the world lives on less than $3 a day.
Another fact is
that the rapid growth of China accounts for most of the global poverty changes.
China is where hundreds of millions of starry-eyed young people went from zero
income on the farms to a few dollars a day under oppressive factory working
conditions. The GDP may show a decline in poverty, but a "quality of life" index
wouldn't make that mistake.
6 and 7. Evolution and global warming don't
exist.
These are just too preposterous for words.
Progressive
activists continue to work toward the day when poverty is down everywhere, and
minorities receive equal treatment, and education is properly funded, and tax
subsidies rather than entitlements are minimized. But that day is being delayed
by make-believe messages from the American conservative.
Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago,
founder and developer of social justice and educational websites
(UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main
author of " American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity
Press). He can be reached at
paul@UsAgainstGreed.org
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