This Is Not Normal

When the US Secretary of Commerce says that “No one but ‘fraudsters’ would complain about a missed Social Security check,” you know that government has gotten completely out of touch with the people for whom it supposed to be working. With an unelected and ethically-challenged billionaire doing their work of deciding what services we will receive, we have to wonder if our legislators are earning their salaries and medical coverage which is the stuff of dreams?
It is up to “We the People” to turn that around and get representatives who actually work for us. I have lived long enough to know voters in North Carolina did not always live in districts so gerrymandered that people are not sure of their own district. Districts have rarely made sense but both parties are guilty of gerrymandering over the years so as a first order of business we voters should demand that our districts be drawn fairly. If you are going to fix accountability, it starts there. If you create a more competitive and geographically sensible district, we will see better candidates more tied to the district.
That is a long term process which we should not forget but we have more pressing concerns like attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Judiciary, due process, friendly countries, our alliances, and even the historical contributions of women and people of color.
I lived in Canada for sixteen years, our children were all born there. I still have a great many friends that I made while farming there. Unless you have lived in Canada and known many Canadians, it might be impossible to appreciate the strong cross-border ties between the two countries. Our president has profoundly insulted Canada. Just last month 500,000 fewer Canadian visited the United States with their dollars than did last year at the same time. Canadians are friendly, proud people who have fought side by side with us in almost every war. The idea that we could just annex them is insulting and preposterous. Why would any Canadian want to give up their universal healthcare that they have had for over sixty years for the expensive mess that we call healthcare? Canadians live on average about four years longer than Americans. On almost every measure of health, Canadians do better and pay less than we Americans. Then there are mass shootings in the last couple of decades. There have been one hundred nine mass shootings in the US while Canada has only had four. Canada is far from a perfect country but it is in the top twenty of happy countries in the world while the US is not. Did I mention that elections only last six weeks in Canada?
I wish Canada was the only ally that has been insulted but that is not the case. It appears that our president is attempting to throw out the alliances like NATO that have kept peace in the world for the last forty years. He seems to believe that Russia’s autocratic and murderous Putin is a better partner than any of our European allies. Ronald Reagan must be spinning in his grave.
While this might all seem far from Davie County, the tariffs, counter tariffs and cuts to USAID are guaranteed to hurt the prices that Davie County farmers receive. We are all going to pay with dramatically higher prices for cars and some commodities. There will be layoffs and I even heard the ultimate stupidity, that maybe a little recession would be good for the economy and by the way if we have it, it is the other guy’s fault.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, “In 1980, the richest 2% of taxpayers were subject to taxes up to the 70% rate.” The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 changed all of that. That top tax rate today is 37% but the rich have also been favored by some more recent laws. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created a deduction for households with income from sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations, which allows taxpayers to exclude up to 20 percent of their pass-through business income from federal income tax.” There are plenty of places that push the theory that the rich pay more than their fair share of taxes. I hear too much bragging about not paying taxes to believe that. The reality is that in the last four decades the total income share of the middle class has plunged from 63% to 42% while the upper income folks have grown their share from 29% to 48%. Because of the continuing pattern of tax cuts favoring them, the rich have accumulated wealth at a far greater rate than the rest of us. “The collective net worth of America’s top 12 billionaires now surpasses $2 trillion. Their combined wealth increased by more than $1.3 trillion, or 193 percent, between March 18, 2020 and December 3, 2024, according to Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes Real Time Billionaire Data. The richest 1 percent now own fifty-four percent of all stock and mutual funds, up from forty percent in 2002, according to Federal Reserve data.” (Wealth Inequality)
It is clear that tax cuts for the rich and corporations are not doing much for our middle class which is also shrinking because the wages we depend on have not kept up with inflation.
Instead of assuming that helping the wealthy and corporations will “trickle down to us,” we should turn the equation upside down. When we can help the less fortunate among us to have a meaningful and secure life, we create the foundation for a better society and all of us benefit from the rising tide. Henry Ford used to argue that he had to keep the price of his cars reasonable because unless his employees could afford to buy them, he had no hope of being successful. CEOs in S&P 500 earned an average of $17.7 million or 268 times what the average worker earned at $65,470. No one that I know wants a socialist world, but everyone should be able to agree on a better world where hard work is valued and compensated fairly. As someone recently said, Government should protect people and regulate corporations instead of what they are doing now which is protecting corporations and regulating people.
Changes that we need likely cannot come from our current politicians. I cannot even get Addison McDowell to say that he will honor his oath of office in which he swears to protect the constitution. He seems to be more interested in renaming Dulles Airport after our current president. I am pretty sure that will help no one in Davie County.
While the current administration’s claims of fraud in Social Security seem to be setting the stage for cuts to the program. I have been paying Social Security Taxes for over fifty years. That’s my money, I was required to pay it and I expect to continue receive my money ( and no it is not an entitlement) until I die. The message from all of us should be clear. Hands off of Social Security. There are easy solutions to making Social Security stable for the foreseeable future and none of them involve making it harder to get benefits are cutting benefits.
Medicare which is far from free as everyone who is on it knows needs to be made better not cut. There is only one reason this country cannot offer universal healthcare. That is greed. Unless you have lived in a place like Canada where healthcare has nothing to do with your job, you have absolutely no idea how much more freedom it gives to you to find a better job. If Canada and every other countries can provide universal healthcare, why cannot our legislators figure it out? Canada has had it for over sixty years. Drug prices are also lower in Canada because the government uses its negotiation powers. We are just starting that but I would not be surprised if it disappears under this administration.
Davie County is a wonderful place to live. We can make it even better by helping those among us who haven’t been as successful. We should have no room for hate, racism, or bigotry. If you want high tech companies, you cannot fight the wars of the past. We have infrastructure already in place that other areas can only envy. I believe the current partisan politics and the gerrymandered districts that detach communities from their elected officials are a big part of the problem.
I am eager to participate in public meetings discussing the things we need like support for young farmers from a new class of political representatives who are dedicated to making the lives of the people they represent better. Until we tell them what we expect of them, they are going to do whatever they want and that apparently doesn’t include defending our constitution.