A Progressive’s Point of View
by Bob Henderson
We’re all lucky to live in America . Unlike millions in North Africa , our homes and families are safe, our society is orderly, and our children go to decent public schools. For these daily benefits, that we all take for granted, I believe we owe our thanks to thousands, millions of public employees.
The men and women of our local and state police maintain public safety with a minimum of intrusion into our daily lives. Our local fire department is on the job, 24/7, to come to our homes in emergencies. I am eternally grateful to the teachers in Blackwell’s public schools of the 1940s and ’50s who prepared me for a successful, useful life.
Yet, it seems to me that these people, to whom we owe so much, who live among us and work for less than they could make in other jobs, are being made scapegoats for the budget problems that dominate our current public conversation.
We must get our finances, nationally and at states, back into balance, no doubt about that. But this can be done. Just ten years ago, our national budget was in surplus. All economists agree that bringing down the national deficit must be done gradually, and that our first concern is to maintain and strengthen our economic recovery.
States do not have this same flexibility, and conditions there are much more critical.
But I am terribly discouraged by the sudden rush in several states to deprive public employees of the right to collective bargaining. Unions and collective bargaining created the American middle class. They are indispensable to our way of life. They are a tradition we should cherish, and they are as necessary today as ever.
As I write this, Ohio has stripped public employees, police and firemen included, of collective bargaining. In Wisconsin , as many as 80,000 citizens have exercised their Constitutional right to peaceful assembly to protest a plan to limit teachers’ bargaining rights.
Until last week, only five states did not allow collective bargaining for educators, effectively prohibiting teacher unions. Those states and their SAT/ACT rankings are: South Carolina , 50th; North Carolina , 49th; Georgia , 48th; Texas , 47th; Virginia , 44th.
Right now, our national education system is in crisis. Everyone acknowledges this. Our school children do not rank in the top two dozen nations by any measurement. Instead of cutting budgets and scapegoating teachers, we should be increasing budgets and trying to attract the most qualified teachers possible. This is essential to maintaining our economic leadership in the 21st century.
The federal government should provide emergency relief to states. We still have that flexibility. If we need more money and no one wants to raise taxes, despite the fact that our taxes are at a 60-year low, we need to collect the taxes that corporations and wealthy citizens owe, but don’t pay.
Forbes magazine published what the top U.S. corporations paid in taxes in 2009. General Electric generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion. Exxon Mobil, which reported a record $45 billion in pretax profit, paid the most taxes of any corporation, but none of it to the IRS. According to Forbes, “With the help of 20 wholly owned subsidiaries domiciled in the Bahamas , Bermuda and the Cayman Islands , Exxon (legally) shelters the cash flow from operations.”
In Oklahoma , we annually forgive companies some $5 billion in tax incentives. Do you suppose that a review might not find at least $1 billion that would be better spent investing in Oklahoma ‘s schools, public health services, roads and bridges?
Oklahomans don’t have too much government and our taxes are not too high. We are underfunding the very services that protect our families and prepare our children for the future.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://bit.ly/aB9Zkz – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies