Things to Remember After a Week of Political-Economic Flip-flopping

Photo Credit/thevillagefamily.org

It's been another week of political and economic flip-flops.

I'm finding comfort in remembering these few things:

1. Something isn't true or a fact because someone says it is.

A fact has to be proven. A truth is a generally accepted outcome or reasoning. Normally truth is based on fact. And a fact isn't based on who believes it.

Just because the 45th says something is "fake news" doesn't make it so. Just because the 45th says trade wars "are easy to win," doesn't make it true.

2. No country is dependent upon one particular person to "save" it.

The 45th has said on multiple occasions that he's the best president ever, smartest president ever and that his administration has done more than any other administration in US history.

Many (mostly white) evangelical Christians sincerely believe that the 45th was chosen by God to run the country. 

Regardless of who is choosing whom, if you're looking for a Christian-type person to lead the US, using personal actions as your yardstick, our current president definitely isn't.

3. No one organized religion has the inside track on God.

God is enormously complex. As is God's creation. If the essence of God is contained in God's creation, which is incredibly diverse, it's beyond my comprehension how anyone can claim that their version of God is the only one that's valid.

4. The world doesn't exist only for the pleasure of the US or any other country.

Maybe it's because of the recent G7 summit, but there's a part of me that thinks such meetings are simply arrogant. How can seven countries think that they can set the course for the rest of the world? We humans tend to get in trouble when behaving selfishly. Witness WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan, etc. Speaking of which...

5. War is a waste of resources.

Let's use the example of the war in Afghanistan. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this war has cost the US about $2.4 trillion as of 2017. In 2018 PBS reported that the Pentagon put the current price tag of the war in Afghanistan at $45 billion a year. 

What have we gained? What has Afghanistan gained except a very unstable country that has basically been bombed to smithereens? Ditto Iraq. We aren't the only major country to fail shamelessly in Afghanistan. Ask the Russians. 

Just take a moment to think about the alternative, positive uses of almost $2.4 trillion dollars! Think about spending that amount of money on education, the arts, or infrastructure for instance.

The Congressional Budget Office says this year's federal deficit will likely hit near $1 trillion.

Photo Credit/Empowering Women for NonViolence

The current administration in Washington would have you believe that it's the social service programs (other than Social Security and Medicare) that are the problem. In fact, they have proposed cuts in SNAP (Food Stamps) with fiscal responsibility as their supposed motive. However, according to the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, safety net programs take up only nine percent of the federal budget. Defense takes up almost twice that amount (fifteen percent). 

It would seem that if any cuts should be made, it would be in the area of defense spending.

6. War is not a good side-business.

The US is currently the largest seller of military supplies in the world. According to Business Insider, the US is responsible for 34 percent of all arms sales in the world. It's biggest customer is Saudi Arabia (an immoral government if there ever was one - witness their war in Yemen.) The US' biggest competitor in worldwide arms sales is Russia at 22 percent. Russia's biggest customer is India.

When you look at the results, in human and economic terms, selling guns, fighter jets and other weapons is extremely counterproductive. What if the US transferred an additional $2.4 trillion into its foreign aid program earmarked for Yemen and Haiti? 

Simply put weapons kill people, cause mass migrations, and widespread illness. War does not make a country or the world stronger. Building up torn down countries does.

If enough of us pester our elected officials who vote on budget allocations, we can reset our nation's priorities to reflect compassion and empathy.

7. Human beings are a very creative species.

As long as there is freedom and we are open to positive change there is hope! 

Xenophobia in the White House Drives Rule Change

Two years ago this week in Charlottesville, Heather Heyer was run down and killed during a White Supremacist rally. As if on cue, the White House announced today a rule change that US Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS) workers can use to further limit legal immigrants from receiving green cards and legal status.

CIS workers will now include public assistance benefits, along with education, health and household income, to determine if legal immigrants are eligible to receive green cards.

According to the New York Times, this rule change is"part of a far-reaching new policy aimed at altering the flow of legal immigration and reducing the number of poor immigrants."

"We want to see people coming to this country who are self-sufficient," said Ken Cuccinelli, the acting CIS director. "That's a core principle of the American Dream. It's deeply embedded in our history, and particularly our history related to legal immigration."

Unfortunately, Cuccinelli, as well as the rest of the current White House administration, seems to have a very skewed and mistaken view of history. In fact, for over 100 years, the US maintained an open border admission policy. It wasn't until August 3, 1882, that the 43rd Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1882, which created guidelines for exclusion. 

Cuccinelli also has an equally distorted idea of what constitutes the 'American Dream.' Except for Native Americans, most of us are descended from immigrant families who had next to nothing when they came to the US. 

According to an  Associated Press release, "under the new rules, the Department of Homeland Security has redefined a public charge as someone who is 'more likely than not' to receive public benefits for more than 12 months within a 36-month period. If someone has two benefits, that is counted as two months. And the definition has been broadened to include Medicaid, housing assistance and food stamps (SNAP)."

In general, immigrants make up a very small percentage of those receiving public assistance. Only 6.5 percent participate in Medicaid while 87 percent of Medicaid recipients are US born. Similarly, only 8.8 percent of immigrants receive SNAP benefits, while more than 87 percent are native-born.

Clearly, the intent by the current administration occupying the White House, is to further discourage immigration and punish those who are already here legally - to say nothing of those attempting to seek asylum legally.

The rule change is set to go into effect in mid-October. 

An indication of just how out-of-step the administration is with the rest of the US, during the comment period, this rule change received over 266,000 comments - nearly triple the average. 

Since before the current president took office, he and his administration have sent a consistent anti-immigration message that is racist, and smacks of white supremacy.

The continued separation of children from their families at the border. Detainees being held in filthy conditions in detention centers. A dramatic downturn in immigration quotas set. All of these actions point to an administration that is fueled by fear and hatred.

Of the current rule change, the New York Times noted: "Immigration advocates warned that vast numbers of immigrants, including those not actually subject to the regulation, may drop out of needed benefits programs because they fear retribution by immigration authorities.

The Times quoted Marielena Hincape, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center: “This news is a cruel new step toward weaponizing programs that are intended to help people by making them, instead, a means of separating families and sending immigrants and communities of color one message: you are not welcome here."

What we, as concerned citizens, can do is call our elected Congressional officials and let them know we are against this rule change (in effect the result of the White House circumventing Congress). We can let our Congressional officials know that we are against racism and 21st Century xenophobia, in all of its forms.

The Congressional Switchboard number is: 202.224.3121. 

For Extra Credit: Here's additional AP coverage, which includes Mr. Cuccinelli stating that Emma Lazarus' poem, written on the base of the Statue of Liberty, was referring to "people who can stand on their own two feet."