A Father's Thoughts

Warren Buffet interview on heath care tax cuts

Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, was interviewed this evening on the PBS Newshour. He shared his views on the tax cuts in the House passed American Health Care Act. The interview can be found at:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/part-2-billionaire-warren-buffett-says-gop-health-reform-bills-relief-rich/

He stated that if the AHCA had been in effect this year he would receive a $679,999 tax cut or over 17% of his tax bill. Some of his friends would have saved as much as $10 million and up. The AHCA tax cut is directed at those with an annual income of $250,000 for married couples or $200,000 for those who are single.

His 2016 tax return shows that he earned $19 million last year and his effective tax rate was 16.5%. Now the Republicans want to cut that.

He also observed that most members of Congress earn $174,000 a year and many of them have additional substantial other income. Thus, they are giving themselves a big tax cut.

The full interview is worth watching.

Better Care Reconciliation Act

I am sitting at my computer about to write words that I didn’t think would ever make it from my fingers to the screen. “I agree with President Trump.” Wow, that wasn’t hard after all. But, I am reminded daily of his loud and frequent support for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and a more compassionate health care system. I admit that my confidence in the veracity of his statements weakened when he gathered his Republican House of Representative supporters at the White House to congratulate them for passing the American Health Care Act.

However, the president later labeled the House bill “mean” after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Committee exposed the details of the pain the bill would impose on the elderly, the sick, children and others who are the most vulnerable in our nation. At the same time, it was reported that those making $1 million per year will receive a tax cut of $17,000 this year.

Now the CBO has exposed the real impact of the Senate attempt to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Like the House bill, it contains the huge tax cuts for corporations and the most well off while removing 15 million Americans from Medicaid next year and significantly raising health care costs for the elderly.

Hopefully, the president will able to influence the Republican Party to pull back from both of these bills and work for reform that will more closely align with his model of lower cost more comprehensive health care for all.

Health care is very complicated. It is past time for both parties to come together and listen to those directly involved in the medical community about ways to bring our health care system into the twenty-first century.

Have we lost our values?

I find myself becoming more troubled as our country continues on a path that will not end well for many people. The House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act that will, as the Congressional Budget Office reports, remove more than 23 million people from access to health care, reduce Medicaid spending by $800 billion, and reduce taxes significantly for those who benefit the most financially in our country. This is a plan that even the president has labeled as “mean”.

A small group of senators is now working, in deep secrecy, to propose their version of the ACHA which some report will contain even larger cuts to Medicaid. So, the bottom line is; punish and hurt the poor and less well-off to benefit those who live in greater comfort. Those senators who are hard at work are the same who so loudly and proudly proclaim their allegiance to Christian and democratic ideals. Cognitive dissonance.

Fortunately, as my spirits were sinking I received my regular email from Maria Popova “brainpickings”:

http://mailchi.mp/brainpickings/einstein-on-our-mightiest-counterforce-against-injustice-rollo-may-on-love-apathy-and-our-human-task-in-times-of-radical-transition-and-more?e=f4b6693f78

She shares the writings and thoughts of Albert Einstein including “We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more.”

In a segment that has relevance for today Einstein writes: “In politics not only are leaders lacking, but the independence of spirit and sense of justice of the citizen have to a great extent declined.”

There is obviously much more that, in contrast to the output of much of our media today, is thought provoking and redolent of some fundamental human values suppressed today by our toxic political environment.

Refreshing.

I'm back, perhaps

Recently I returned to my blog after nearly three years and reviewed some of my earlier writing. Today I find myself frustrated and helpless as I see our nation on a path that has no good end. I am not comfortable feeling helpless because unless remedied it can lead to despair.

This month Cherie and I had a wonderful short vacation, well earned for her, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It felt good to be out of the country. Later this year I am going to the United Kingdom to visit two granddaughters, three new great-grandsons and their families. I am looking forward to that trip and the opportunity to rejoin my family members if only for a couple of weeks.

At the same time, while I am excited to get out of my country, I am uncomfortable having the feelings that feed that excitement. Neither am I content with the discomfort I feel about the current dysfunctionality of our toxic politics. Therefore I have decided to return to writing in the hopes of sorting out my own troubled thoughts and feeling. 

I plan to publish my writings on my long dormant blog and share it with those who might be interested. I will welcome and respond to any who feel moved to contact me. I have no illusions about my ability to change anything but am hopeful that some might be interested in engaging in a dialogue about the concerns that I express.