Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz – Identifying WHY Poverty Exists and Taking EFFECTIVE Action

[johnkarls]

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A. Introduction

Question 1

Is the very first sentence of “Poverty, by America” a question (Why is there so much poverty in America?) because virtually all books on poverty (including Matthew Desmond’s own “Evicted” which was the focus of our 5/18/2016 meeting) MERELY DESCRIBE IT (VS. EXPLAIN WHY IT EXISTS)?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Does he do a good job of explaining why?

Answer 2

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 3

Have many of our meeting foci over the years explained in painful detail why?

Answer 3

Please read on.


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B. Exporting American Jobs 1993-2016

Question 1

Have we focused many times on how the U.S. exported FOR 24 YEARS much, if not most, of its manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries such as China?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Did this largely destroy America’s middle class?

Answer 2

Of course!!!

Question 3

BTW, although we pride ourselves in being a NON-PARTISAN public-POLICY organization (i.e., policy, NOT politics), is it “out of line” for us to notice that in 2016 Donald Trump flipped 6 states [Florida (29 electoral votes), Iowa (6), Michigan (16), Ohio (18), Pennsylvania (20) and Wisconsin (10)] – and 4 of the 6 with 64 electoral votes WERE IN THE “RUST BELT”???

Answer 3

No, it is NOT “out of line” because policy recommendations to decision makers often depend on understanding what the pols have already done.

Question 4

And that the 4 RUST BELT states and their 64 electoral votes ALONE would have been 21 more electoral votes than the minimum needed for victory?

Answer 4

Yes – flipping Florida and Iowa wasn’t necessary.

Indeed, NOT flipping ANY ONE of the 4 RUST BELT states while NOT flipping Florida and Iowa would NOT have changed Trump’s victory.

Question 5

Also BTW, does it appear foolish for Democrats to prosecute Donald Trump criminally in 4 different actions?

Answer 5

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 6

After all, didn’t we study just last month that the CIA’s World Factbook reports that of America’s 339.7 million population, 46.5% are Protestant, 20.8% Catholic, and 22.8% unaffiliated with the largest fragment of the remaining 10.0% being 1.9% Jewish?

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

So if 67.3% of the American population is Christian, then why does it make sense to persecute a “Messianic figure” who has been the only politician since 1993 to oppose the exportation of American jobs??? After all, wasn’t Christ also prosecuted (and even crucified) by the authorities because of his love for the masses???

Answer 7

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!


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C. Thurgood Marshall and the Revocation of Brown vs. Board of Education

Question 1

Was Thurgood Marshall the first Black on the U.S. Supreme Court 1967-1991?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Was the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 “Brown vs. Board” decision famous because by a unanimous 9-0 vote, it reversed its notorious 1896 “Plessy vs. Fergurson” decision that “separate but equal” was “hunky dory” and, instead, ruled that the de jure dual school systems of the old slave states were unconstitutional?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Were Oliver Brown et al. represented in the U.S. Supreme Court by the NAACP’s Chief Counsel – THURGOOD MARSHALL?

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

Did Thurgood Marshall have two children (Thurgood Jr. and John W. Marshall), both of whom Thurgood Sr. sent to one of the nation’s top prep schools – Phillips Exeter Academy?

Answer 4

Yes.

Question 5

When asked why he had shunned for his sons the public schools he had been so instrumental in integrating, did Thurgood Marshall answer – “A parent does the best s/he can by her/his own children”?

Answer 5

Yes.

Question 6

Indeed, haven’t we studied that Thurgood Marshall’s attitude is what produced America’s present-day “Apartheid Schooling” (Jonathan Kozol’s description)?

Answer 6

Please read on.

Question 7

Was one of Jonathan Kozol’s many famous best-selling books about inner-city education over more than 50 years his “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” (2005)?

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

Did it describe the conditions that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Parents vs. Seattle School District No. 1?

Answer 8

Yes.

Question 9

Did Parents vs. Seattle decide that segregated schools were “hunky dory” so long as they reflected segregated housing patterns?

Answer 9

Unfortunately!!!

Question 10

And aren’t segregated housing patterns the result of millions of Americans each independently following Thurgood Marshall’s principle of “doing the best s/he can by her/his own children” – buying a home in the community with the best schools that they can afford?

Answer 10

Of course!!!

Question 11

So isn’t it ironic that Thurgood Marshall who represented Oliver Brown et al. before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 possessed the same parental attitude that produced the effective reversal of Brown vs. Board 53 years later in Parents vs. Seattle?

Answer 11

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!


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D. The Southern Border and Importing, Inter Alia, Low-Cost Workers

Question 1

Did our 9/18/2019 meeting focus on the United Nations’ two-decade-old “War on Modern Slavery” which we have since often summarized as follows from the U.N. Biennial Reports on “Trafficking in Persons” and a book by the Director of the Harvard U. Kennedy School of Government’s “Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery” –

(A) Trafficking human slaves is more profitable for organized crime than illegal guns or illegal drugs.

(B) There are more slaves today than ever throughout history!!!

(C) Indeed, at least TWICE AS MANY people are CURRENTLY TRAPPED in some form of slavery as were traded throughout the 350 years of the transatlantic slave industry!!!

(D) And virtually all of the slaves come from refugee camps where they are easily enticed by the false promise of a better life!!!

(E) Indeed, the retail price of a slave delivered in the U.S. is only $5,250 as a result of which the average price of a sex act is only $27.50 which has unleashed incredible demand!!!

(F) And the average sex slave performs 3,296 sex acts per year for $90,648 of gross income which means that the net return after expenses (meals, bribery of officials, etc.) is an ANNUAL net profit of MANY TIMES the initial investment – with no workforce training!!!

(G) Of course, you can use your slave for anything you want including working in your vineyard or on your farm under whatever inhumane working conditions you like and, of course, for no remuneration other than enough calories to keep the slave alive!!!

(H) AND QUITE A FEW SLAVES ARE PURCHASED FOR ORGAN HARVESTING!!!

(I) The average sex slave is dead by age 35!!!

Answer 1

(A) Yes.
(B) Yes.
(C) Yes.
(D) Yes.
(E) Yes.
(F) Yes.
(G) Yes.
(H) Yes.
(I) Yes.

Question 2

Is the key for our 9/20/2023 meeting Item (G) – you can use your slave for anything you want including working on your vineyard or your farm [or in your factory] under whatever inhumane working conditions you like and, of course, for no remuneration other than enough calories to keep the slave alive???

Answer 2

What do you think??? [There may be more key items.] Let’s discuss!!!

Question 3

Has opening our southern border the last 2.5 years made it even easier for organized crime to import, inter alia, modern-day slaves?

Answer 3

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!


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E. “Medicare For Everyone” – To SAVE the Fed Gov $73 Billion Per YEAR!!!

Question 1

Did we adopt a “Six Degrees Of Separation” E-mail Campaign following our 7/12/2017 meeting based on our proof that adopting “Medicare For All” would save the U.S. Government $300 Billion/YEAR???

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Was that e-mail campaign directed at U.S. Senator John McCain???

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Was 7/12/2017 a mere 16 days before Sen. McCain cast his iconic “thumb down” vote against “repealing and replacing” Obamacare as a result of which “repeal and replace” failed by one vote???

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

Is our 7/12/2017 e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain available at http://discussingliberally-saltlake.org ... 20a11b31da?

Answer 4

Yes.

Question 5

Did we state in the first paragraph of our e-mail to Sen. McCain that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD” which comprises the 35 top “economically developed” countries in the world) currently reported that the percentage of American Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) spent on healthcare was more than twice the average of the rest of the world’s 35 economically-developed countries???

Answer 5

Yes.

Question 6

Did we also state in the first paragraph of our e-mail to Sen. McCain that the U.N.’s World Health Organization currently ranked “the health system performance” of the U.S. as only 37th in the world -- which meant that since there were only 35 members of the OECD, American healthcare was outranked by at least two third-world countries???!!!

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

Did our e-mail to Sen. McCain then document that in 2015 the U.S. Census Bureau (the most recent numbers available at the time of our e-mail) reported that 19.6% of the U.S. population was covered by Medicaid, 16.3% was covered by Medicare and 4.7% were covered by the Military including the V.A. -- for a total of 40.6%???

Answer 7

Yes.

Question 8

Did our e-mail to Sen. McCain then document that in 2015 the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 55.7% of the U.S. population had employment-based health insurance???

Answer 8

Yes.

Question 9

Did our e-mail to Sen. McCain then note that the cost of employment-based health insurance is tax deductible to the employer and non-taxable to the employee???

Answer 9

Yes.

Question 10

And that, since the U.S. corporate income tax rate was 35% at the time of our e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain, the U.S. Government was bearing the cost of 35% of healthcare insurance for the 55.7% of the U.S. population with employment-based health insurance -- in other words bearing through lost tax revenues the cost of an additional 35% of 55.7% of the U.S. population, or 19.5% of the U.S. population???

Answer 10

Yes.

Question 11

So did our e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain add to the 40.6% of the U.S. population whose healthcare was DIRECTLY covered by the U.S. Government (Q-7), 19.5% of the U.S. population representing the INDIRECT lost-tax-revenue cost to the U.S. Government of employer-provided healthcare -- for a total of 60.1%???

Answer 11

Yes.

Question 12

Did our e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain then note the anomaly that the U.S. Government already pays 60.1% of the nation’s healthcare bill which, per the OECD and UN’s World Health Organization, was DOUBLE the size of the world’s 35 other civilized countries???

Answer 12

Yes.

Question 13

So that if the U.S. brought its healthcare costs into line with the world’s 35 other civilized countries, the U.S. Government could provide healthcare for all of its population (e.g., “Medicare For All”) while REDUCING its costs from 60.1% of total American healthcare costs then exceeding $3 TRillion/year (in other words, $1,803 Billion/Year) to 100% of the $1.5 TRillion/year TOTAL that America should be paying by the standard of the world’s other 35 civilized countries ($1,500 Billion/Year) -- for a net savings of $1,500 Billion/Year cost of “Medicare for All” minus the $1,803 Billion/Year that we have been blowing to effectively cover only 60.1% of the population???

Answer 13

Yes.

Question 14

In other words, Medicare for All saving the U.S. Government $300 Billion/YEAR???

Answer 14

Yes.

Question 15

Was receiving an untold number of such e-mails during the 16 days before Sen. McCain cast his iconic “thumb down” vote on “repeal and replace” Obamacare the reason for his decision???

Answer 15

So it would seem.

For years prior to the vote, Sen. McCain had been fond of saying in speeches that the American healthcare system is “the best in the world.”

But we had faith in Sen. McCain’s integrity that when confronted with the facts, he would change his assessment.

Question 16

Is our calculation of the net savings from adopting “Medicare For All” narrowed somewhat by the fact that the U.S. Corporate Tax Rate has been reduced from 35% to 21% so that the effective cost to the U.S. government (or lost tax revenue) from employer-based healthcare has declined somewhat???

Answer 16

The original calculation for our 7/12/2017 “Six Degrees Of Separation” E-mail Campaign to Sen. John McCain was –

19.6% = Percentage of US population covered by Medicaid in 2015 per US Census Bureau
16.3% = Percentage of US population covered by Medicare in 2015 per US Census Bureau
4.7% = Percentage of US population covered by Military/VA in 2015 per US Census Bureau
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40.6% = Subtotal
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To this was added the cost (lost tax revenue) from employment-based health insurance being deductible for the employer and exempt for the employee –

55.7% = Percentage of US population covered by employers in 2015 per US Census Bureau
x 35% = Lost income tax revenue from employers at 35% corporate rate
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19.5% = Percentage of US population covered by lost corporate income tax revenue
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40.6% = Subtotal (above)
19.5% = Percentage of US population covered by lost corporate income tax revenue
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60.1% = Total percentage of US population covered by US Government
50.0% = Percentage of wasted US healthcare costs (Footnote *)
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10.1% = Percentage of legitimate US healthcare costs available to be saved*
x $3,174 Billion/Year – Annual US healthcare costs per http://www.cia.gov
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$320.6 Billion/YEAR – Annual savings from implementing Medicare For All
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Footnote * -- As explained in the first paragraph of our 7/12/2017 e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain, The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that the percentage of American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on healthcare is MORE THAN TWICE THE AVERAGE of the other 34 members of the OECD. And we know that the healthcare feature that all of the world’s other 34 civilized countries share is a single-payer healthcare system (e.g., Medicare For All) that does NOT tolerate the high level of nonsense that prevails in the U.S.

BTW, as also explained in the first paragraph of our 7/12/2017 e-mail campaign to Sen. McCain, the UN’s World Health Organization ranks “the health system performance” of the US as only 37th in the world -- which means that since there are only 35 members of the OECD, American healthcare is outranked by at least two third-world countries!!!

PAYING DOUBLE FOR THIRD-WORLD PERFORMANCE!!!

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The revised calculation for our 12/19/2017 “Six Degrees Of Separation” E-mail Campaign was –

The subsequent reduction in the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% –

19.5% = Percentage of US population covered by lost corporate income tax revenue @ 35%
11.7% = Percentage of US population covered by lost corporate income tax revenue @ 21%
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7.8% = Reduction in percentage covered by lost corporate income tax revenue @ 35%
x $3,174 Billion/YEAR – Annual US healthcare costs per http://www.cia.gov
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$247.6 Billion/YEAR = Reduction in savings caused by reduction in corporate tax rate
$320.6 Billion/YEAR = Annual savings before corporate tax rate change (above)
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$73.0 Billion/YEAR = Annual savings after corporate tax rate change
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Or $730 BILLION for the 10-year standard Congressional period for measuring the impact of legislation.


Question 17

Was the resulting savings of $73 Billion/YEAR reflected in our 12/19/2019 “Six Degrees Of Separation” E-mail Campaign?

Answer 17

Yes.


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F. Where Do We Go From Here (as a matter of public policy)?

Question 1

How did Matthew Desmond do in explaining WHY American poverty exists (vs. merely describing it)?

Answer 1

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 2

Would his suggested solutions be effective?

Answer 2

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 3

Would the following solutions be effective –

(A) Close the southern border again.

(B) Bring jobs back to America.

(C) Provide decent K-12 education for our economically-deprived children.

(E) Enact “Medicare For All” (which BTW should save the Fed Gov $73 Billion/YEAR).

Answer 3

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!