Governor and Legislative Leaders Relent (and Repent?)

[johnkarls]

.
---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Another Success – Thank You For Participating – UTAH TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY – Feb 19 Mtg
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: To be sent pre-dawn on Sat, January 25, 2020
To: Each of Our 171 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org
Attachment:
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To Each of Our 171 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org


Dear Friends,

Our next meeting is Wed evening - Feb 19 - 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room A (Salt Lake nonresidents are invited to participate by Skype).

[Please RSVP by pressing “Reply” and typing “RSVP.”]

Our focus book is the “classic” in the field of poverty - “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan Books 2001 -- Paperback Version (2011) available from Amazon.com for $10.29 + shipping or $9.99 Kindle – 256 pages). [Salt Lake Library – 2 of 7 copies currently available; Salt Lake County Library – 3 of 4 copies currently available.]

The “classic” because, like “Black Like Me,” Barbara Ehrenreich decided despite having a PhD in Cellular Immunology that she would experience what it is like (despite remaining white) to be a waitress, hotel maid, cleaning woman, nursing-home aide and Wal-Mart sales clerk – just like John Howard Griffin darkened his skin sufficiently to experience what it is like to be black.


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ANOTHER SUCCESS* – THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING

[ * Although we can’t claim full credit for this success, it is our FOURTH e-mail campaign that has met with success in the last 5 weeks – the others are Andrew Yang embracing thorium fission, Bernie Sanders championing Medicare For All as a way to SAVE the U.S. Gov money (vs. Elizabeth Warren’s $52 TRillion COST estimate), and President Trump releasing the “Peace” portion of his “Peace to Prosperity” Plan for the Palestinians.]

On Mon Jan 13, you received our e-mail entitled EMERGENCY – YOUR SIGNATURE NEEDED BY THURSDAY – UTAH TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY.

[For your convenience, it is the second and last e-mail appearing below.]

It contained a Heads Up that the Utah Legislature last month raised the sales tax on groceries from 1.75% to 4.85% as part of a massive state tax overhaul and Gov. Herbert signed it into law.

And that pursuant to Utah Code Sec. 20A-7-301, NO LAW WILL TAKE EFFECT until the voters approve it by a referendum if a petition is promptly signed by 8% of the total voters in the state AND signed by 8% of the voters in each of 15 of Utah’s 29 counties.

Accordingly, our Mon Jan 13 e-mail requested each of you (1) to sign the petition, which could be done at Harmon’s Groceries which UNFORTUNATELY are only located in 5 of Utah’s 29 counties, AND (2) to forward our Mon Jan 13 e-mail to all of your friends IN AN UNENDING CHAIN to do the same CONSIDERING ESPECIALLY friends in the 24 Utah counties that have no Harmon’s Groceries.

On Jan 22, the organizers of the petition drive announced that they had obtained signatures of more than 8% of the total voters in the state AND more than 8% of the voters in each of 15 of Utah’s 29 counties - https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/20 ... -campaign/.

And on Jan 23, the Governor and Legislative Leaders announced that they will repeal the increase - https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/20 ... gislature/.


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GIVING SPECIAL THANKS TO THE MORMON CHURCH

Last Sat Jan 18, our weekly e-mail (for your convenience, the first immediately-following item) announced that the attendees of our Jan 15 meeting had selected as the topic for Feb 19 - UTAH TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY.

[While explaining that Barbara Ehrenreich’s “classic” “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” would be the focus book because the focus for our 2/7/2018 meeting had already been “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” by Johns Hopkins Prof. Kathryn J. Edin and U/Mich Prof. H. Luke Shaefer (Houghton Mifflin – 2015) which, inter alia, documented that 1.5 MILLION of our NEIGHBORS live on less than $2.00/day per person.]

The important “battle flag” that we ran up the mast???

That since, as of last Sat, we did not know whether the referendum would be successful AND, even if successful, whether the Utah Legislature would do as it has in the past BY IMMEDIATELY ENACTING A NEW (AND PERHAPS MORE ONEROUS) LAW --

“we should consider taking action to encourage The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to support EXEMPTING ENTIRELY groceries from Utah sales tax” -- remarking --

“After all, Jesus Christ said that “to inherit eternal life -- (1) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, AND (2) thy neighbor as thyself” (!!!) [Luke 10: 25-28]

“Following which Jesus Christ was asked “who is my neighbor” whereupon Jesus Christ told the Story of the Good Samaritan to drive home the point that EVERY HUMAN BEING IS YOUR NEIGHBOR!!! [Luke 10: 29-37]

“Since The Mormon Church has recently resumed taking Official Positions vis-à-vis Utah Legislation, one would hope that The Mormon Church would recognize the conflict between Christ’s Command to “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself” in order to “inherit eternal life” and, unlike many if not most other states, imposing sales tax on the groceries of the “poorest among us”!!!”

Fingerprints???

No latent prints!!!

But there is a famous legal phrase – “Res Ipsa Loquitur” (Latin which translates literally into “the thing speaks for itself” or, in other words, “it is obvious”).

The Governor and Legislative Leaders announcing that they would repeal their legislation (after saying for quite a while that they would never do so)!!!

If you think The Mormon Church didn’t “call them to heel,” it is respectfully suggested that you are hopelessly naïve!!! [Unless you think they had an “epiphany” on “the road to Damascus”!!!]

We should be thankful that the Mormon Church called them to heel!!!


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We still hope nevertheless to see/hear all of you Wed evening Feb 19 to discuss poverty in America.

[Please RSVP by pressing “reply” and typing RSVP.]

Your friend,
John K.

PS – To unsubscribe, please press “reply” and type “deletion requested.”


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: UTAH TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY – Feb 19 Mtg
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: Sat, January 18, 2019
To: Each of Our 170 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Each of Our 170 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org


Dear Friends,

Our next meeting is Wed evening - Feb 19 - 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room A (Salt Lake nonresidents are invited to participate by Skype).

[Please RSVP by pressing “Reply” and typing “RSVP.”]


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Our Topic and Focus Book --

The topic will be “Utah Tax Groceries of Our Neighbors Living on Less Than $2.00/Day.”

Our e-mail of last Monday requesting each of you to go to Harmon’s and sign a referendum petition (and ask all of your friends to do the same in an unending chain) really says it all.

[The Monday e-mail is reproduced below for your convenience.]

HOWEVER, as stated in the e-mail, we already studied for our 2/7/2018 meeting “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” by Johns Hopkins Prof. Kathryn J. Edin and U/Mich Prof. H. Luke Shaefer (Houghton Mifflin – 2015) which, inter alia, documented that 1.5 MILLION of our NEIGHBORS live on less than $2.00/day per person.

ACCORDINGLY, the attendees at our Jan 13 meeting selected as our new focus book the “classic” in the field --

“Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich (Metropolitan Books 2001 -- Paperback Version (2011) available from Amazon.com for $10.29 + shipping or $9.99 Kindle – 256 pages).


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Why “Nickel and Dimed” is THE CLASSIC in the field of poverty --

Many, if not most, of us will recall that when John Howard Griffin, a white journalist, wanted to experience what it would be like to be an African-American living in America’s Deep South in 1959-1960, he darkened his skin so that he could pass as African-American and traveled for 6 weeks through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia.

“Black Like Me” (Houghton Mifflin - 1960) was his report of what he experienced, based on a 188-page diary that he kept during the 6 weeks.

Barbara Ehrenreich, an award-winning author of 21 books, followed in John Howard Griffin’s footsteps in EXPERIENCING WHAT POVERTY IS LIKE.

Even though she had a PhD in Cellular Immunology, she decided to EXPEREINCE FOR HERSELF the impact of Bill Clinton’s “ending poverty as we know it” on which he campaigned in 1992 and which he, in the middle of his re-election campaign in 1996, actually signed into law.

What Bill Clinton meant was terminating “Aid to Families with Dependent Children” (AFDC) which had been enacted in 1935 as the HEART of Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” and which, for the next 6 decades, provided financial assistance TO CHILDREN whose families had little or no income.

So in 1998, Barbara Reichenbach left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Main to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Moving quickly, she discovered that no job is truly “unskilled,’ that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.

Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity -- a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich’s perspective and for a rare view of how “prosperity” looks like from the bottom. You will never see anything -- from a motel bathroom to a restaurant meal -- in quite the same way again.


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The Petition Described in the Following E-mail --

At this time, it is not known whether the petition will succeed.

And if it does, whether a referendum of Utah voters will disapprove TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY.

And if such a referendum is approved by voters, whether the Utah Legislature will do as it has in the past BY IMMEDIATELY ENACTING A NEW (AND PERHAPS MORE ONEROUS) LAW.

Accordingly, we should consider taking action to encourage The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to support EXEMPTING ENTIRELY groceries from Utah sales tax.

After all, Jesus Christ said that “to inherit eternal life -- (1) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, AND (2) thy neighbor as thyself” (!!!) [Luke 10: 25-28]

Following which Jesus Christ was asked “who is my neighbor” whereupon Jesus Christ told the Story of the Good Samaritan to drive home the point that EVERY HUMAN BEING IS YOUR NEIGHBOR!!! [Luke 10: 29-37]

Since The Mormon Church has recently resumed taking Official Positions vis-à-vis Utah Legislation, one would hope that The Mormon Church would recognize the conflict between Christ’s Command to “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself” in order to “inherit eternal life” and, unlike many if not most other states, imposing sales tax on the groceries of the “poorest among us”!!!


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We hope to see/hear all of you Wed evening Feb 19. [Please RSVP by pressing “reply” and typing RSVP.]

Your friend,
John K.

PS – To unsubscribe, please press “reply” and type “deletion requested.”


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: EMERGENCY – YOUR SIGNATURE NEEDED BY THURSDAY – UTAH TAXING GROCERIES OF OUR NEIGHBORS LIVING ON LESS THAN $2.00/DAY
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: Mon, January 13, 2019 12:17 am – 1:32 am MST
To: Each of Our 169 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org
Attachment:
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To Each of Our 169 Members One-By-One – for reasons explained in the 4 postings in Sec. 2 of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org


Dear Friends,

This is an “ALL HANDS ON DECK” EMERGENCY REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ACTION!!!

Many, if not most, states do NOT tax groceries because it would compromise the ability of many of our NEIGHBORS to survive!!!

[Many of you will recall that the focus of our 2/7/2018 meeting was “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” by Johns Hopkins Prof. Kathryn J. Edin and U/Mich Prof. H. Luke Shaefer (Houghton Mifflin – 2015) which, inter alia, documented that 1.5 MILLION of our NEIGHBORS live on less than $2.00/day per person!!!]

[Indeed, we agreed at our 2/7/2018 meeting that Professors Edin and Shaefer were DE FACTO INDICTING AMERICA for a failure to “LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES”!!!]

The Utah Legislature last month raised the sales tax on groceries from 1.75% to 4.85% as part of a massive state tax overhaul and Gov. Herbert signed it into law.

FORTUNATELY, Utah Code Sec. 20A-7-301 provides that NO LAW WILL TAKE EFFECT until the voters approve it by a referendum if a petition is promptly signed by 8% of the total voters in the state AND signed by 8% of the voters in each of 15 of Utah’s 29 counties.

AND HARMON’S GROCERY STORES have announced that volunteers of “2019 Tax Referendum” will be available in each of its stores THROUGH THIS THURSDAY (JAN 16) to enable any qualified voter to sign the petition WHICH MUST BE DONE IN PERSON WITH PROPER IDENTIFICATION.

[A list of Harmon’s 20 grocery stores (incl addresses & telephone numbers) follows below.]

NB: The State of Utah Parent Teachers Association has also issued a Press Release supporting the referendum (please see the first frame that appears at https://www.utahpta.org/) but the Press Release does NOT announce any logistical support like Harmon’s is providing.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO - IMMEDIATELY

1. Visit your local Harmon’s Grocery to sign the petition.

2. Forward this e-mail to all your friends to request them to do the same – i.e., sign and alert their friends.

3. Give special thought to whether you have any friends IN OTHER COUNTIES whom you can ask.

[Former Rep. Fred Cox and his supporters have set up a Facebook group called “2019 Tax Referendum” where people can volunteer to gather signatures – THEY WOULD PROBABLY FIND INCREDIBLY HELPFUL ANY FRIENDS YOU MAY HAVE IN THE 24 COUNTIES THAT HAVE NO HARMON’S GROCERY STORES!!!]

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Thank you for anything you are able to do!!!

Your friend,
John K.

PS – To unsubscribe, please press “reply” and type “deletion requested.”

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Harmon’s Groceries --

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WEBER COUNTY
Roy - 5370 South 1900 West, Roy UT 84067 - 801-825-9002

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DAVIS COUNTY
Station Park - 200 North Station Parkway, Farmington UT 84025 - 801-928-2600

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SALT LAKE COUNTY
City Creek - 135 East 100 South, SLC, UT 84111 - 801-428-0366
Emigration Market - 1706 East 1300 South, SLC, UT 84108 - 801-583-3663
Brickyard - 3270 South 1300 East, SLC, UT 84106 - 801-487-7736
Holladay Market - 4675 South Holladay Blvd., Holladay, UT 84117 - 385-257-8300
Harmon’s Flower Shop - 3143 Parkway Blvd., West Valley City, UT 84119 - 801-957-8477
West Valley - 3955 West 3500 South, West Valley City, UT 84120 - 801-967-9213
Cougar - 4872 West 6200 South, Kearns, UT 84081- 801-965-9450
Taylorsville - 4545 South Redwood Road, Taylorsville, UT 84123 - 801-967-9213
7th Street - 7755 South 700 East, Midvale, UT 84047 - 801-561-2286
Draper - 672 East 11400 South, Draper, UT 84020 - 801-576-9911
Bangerter Crossing - 125 East 13800 South, Draper, UT 84020 - 801-617-0111
South Jordan - 10507 South Redwood Road, South Jordan, UT 84095 - 801-446-9984
The District - 11453 South Parkway Plaza, South Jordan, UT 84095 - 801-495-5402
Mountain View Village - 13330 South Kestrel Range Road, Riverton, UT 84096 - 385-257-6440

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UTAH COUNTY
Traverse Mountain - 1750 Traverse Parkway, Lehi, UT 84043 - 385-352-8011
Orem - 870 East 800 North, Orem, UT 84097 - 801-225-1770

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WASHINGTON COUNTY
St. George - 1189 East 700 South, St. George, UT 84790 - 435-628-0411
Santa Clara - 3520 Pioneer Parkway, Santa Clara, UT 84765 - 435-773-6200